


His Name Was Bob

by lywellen



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous-Gender Reader, Angst, Author has issues, BittyBones, Bob has issues, Character Death, Everyone Has Issues, Fluff, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Language, Medical stuff, Mentions of past abuse, More tags to be added as we go, No Smut, Reader Has Issues, Reader has a bad relationship with their parent, You know how I roll, it's just not something i write, some sad, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2018-08-07 20:12:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 76,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7728247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lywellen/pseuds/lywellen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humans are weird and are never satisfied with what they already have.  They have to alter everything around them to make their own lives more convenient.  Including other lifeforms.  </p><p>For example, people tampered with genetics to make fish that glow in the dark.  Why?  For no other reason than they thought they would make radical pets.  </p><p>As technology advanced, people moved from tampering with simple genetics to tampering with soul energy itself.  Thus, Bitties were created:  Tiny skeleton creatures powered by soul energy.  And of course, almost immediately, they too were patented and sold as “pets.”  But being simple things made only of bones and souls, could they really be considered alive?  What does it even mean to be alive?  What is a soul?</p><p>You really didn’t want to think about such headache-inducing existential questions.  All you wanted to do was earn enough to go to school, get your veterinary technician license, and live a simple and happy existence.  But life had other plans for you in the form of an angry little creature staring you down from the confines of a jar.  What the hell?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Rude

**Author's Note:**

> Uuugh, ok, so the Bitty Bones AU kinda pulled me in and I had to do a thing. ^~^;; Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Inspired by Fucken-crybaby's Bitty Bones AU on Tumblr with a bit of a different take on things. 
> 
> Warnings: Cursing, injuries, medical stuff (they are in a veterinary office)

You were surprised when 5 minutes before you closed, someone brought an Edgy Bitty into the veterinary clinic where you worked. Not very surprised that someone would show up 5 minutes before closing. People did that constantly. Rude. But surprised by the fact that someone was bringing in a Bitty. They had just been released to the public a few months ago. Plus they were super expensive. Thus, not many people owned them. Especially an Edgy considering they were supposed to have been recalled. (Seemed biting a child was heavily frowned upon when it came to manufactured “pets.”) Well, at least you were pretty sure it was an Edgy Bitty, judging from the tiny hunched skeleton figure with glowing red eyes and snarling coming from the sealed glass jar placed on the reception desk. Ugh, of course something like this would come in when Mary had left for the night.

“Hello! How can I help you?” You asked in the most cheerful and professional voice you could muster, trying very hard to smile and not to let your eye twitch in irritation.

A scruffy-looking balding dude stood on the other side of the desk, pushing the jar containing the Bitty toward you with one hand while he had his other hand cradled against his chest wrapped in a paper towel. Gross, he had blood along the front of his shirt too. You wondered if he even noticed.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, found this laying out in my driveway. Sucker bit me!” He held up his paper towel-wrapped hand as if you hadn’t noticed. “I um… thought you all might take it since the shelter’s closed for the night? By the way, these things don’t carry the rabies or anything, right?”

Sigh. Deep breath. No snapping at the clients. This wasn’t the first time someone had tried to drop off an unwanted pet at your hospital. Nor would it be the last. At least he had come inside and hadn’t left it by the door.

“Sir, I don’t believe they carry anything that can be transmitted to humans. However, we really don’t see these kinds of pets at this hospital and…”

“Yeah, but I can’t keep this thing at my house!” He spoke over you. “I’ve got kids and I can’t have it attacking them! Just put it to sleep or something. I don’t care.”

He was starting to back away from the jar and the desk. Oh no. He was going to bolt for it! You had to try to stop him! But before you could even open your mouth to protest, he turned and yeah, definitely bolted back through the front door of the hospital. Great.

Ugh. This was why you hated people. So quick to just dump their problems on someone else. Silly you had initially gotten into veterinary medicine because animals were so much more genuine and loving than most people. But yeah, all of those pets were attached to people so you had to deal with a lot of people every day. Oh well. At least essentially wearing pajamas to work every day was nice. Even if they did show ass crack every time you bent over. Anyway, once you saved up enough for school and got your veterinary technician license, at least you could make a passable living doing what you did. Hopefully. You liked Dr. Rivera. You had worked for him for a few years and he and the manager Gary were practically family. Though he was probably not going to be happy with you right now taking in something like this. But what were you supposed to do? Chase the guy down? Yeah, no.

You peered into the glass jar as the little Bitty lay curled up on the bottom growling between ragged breaths. Hm, not that you knew much about these sorts of pets, but this one didn’t look so good. Its eyes glowed dimly as it peered back and growled weakly at you through the glass. It kept its arms wrapped around its sides clutching at its dirty, torn black coat. Its bare foot bones were filthy and its black pants were dirty and torn in places as well. A large tear along the right leg of its pants allowed you to notice a large crack running diagonally all the way through its right tibia. Poor thing. Had it been running around outside long? And oh man, there were no air holes in the jar! You carefully loosened the lid watching to make sure that the Bitty didn’t try to escape. It didn’t. You replaced the jar lid with a plastic bag, poked holes in it, and secured it with a rubber band. Well, at least the little thing seemed to be breathing a bit easier now. Kinda weird it seemed to have to breathe in the first place considering it didn’t have lungs. Again, you didn’t know much about these little guys.

Since it was close enough to closing time anyway, you flipped the front sign from “Open” to “Closed” and locked the front door. Then carefully, you lifted the jar from the front desk (earning you more growling) to go show the doctor. As usual, Dr. Rivera was completing his end of the night callbacks to clients going over things like lab results, answering questions, etc. You waited patiently by his door as he glanced at you briefly, held up his pointer finger, and then took a few minutes to finish his current call.

Hanging up the phone, he sighed, removed his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw you standing there holding the jar with the growling Bitty.

Dr. Rivera was short but built, with tan skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He looked young for being middle aged. Without his lab coat and glasses, he actually didn’t really strike most people as what a veterinarian should look like (if they were even supposed to have a look).

He grumbled your name followed by a, "Why?” as he gave you a long, suffering look. Ugh, the full name treatment. He was angry.

“Some guy just abandoned it on the front desk and bolted!” You explained quickly. “Said he found it in his driveway. I tried to tell him we don’t see these kinds of pets here, but he wouldn’t listen!” You glanced down and saw that the Bitty had stopped growling to kind of look between you and Dr. Rivera as you both spoke. It grimaced as it moved.

Dr. Rivera motioned for you to bring him the jar as he replaced his glasses, taking it from you and studying the angry creature inside. The Bitty resumed growling as it leaned away from him as close to the back of the jar as it could scoot.

“Great. I really don’t know anything about these guys.” Dr. Rivera brought the jar closer to his face, squinting. “Hm. Cursory glance tells me it probably has a fracture along its right tibia.”

Thank you captain obvious. You probably shouldn't voice that though, since he was irritated enough.

Dr. Rivera sighed again as he looked up at you. “Alright, I’ll look at it. Mary went home for the night so that means you have to help with this. Wanna go grab a towel and meet me in treatment? I heard these things bite.”

“What? Mary went home? No wonder I was stuck at the front desk!” You declared sarcastically, no longer able to resist calling out his obvious statements.

“Quit being a smart ass and go get that towel!” Dr. Rivera snapped.

You laughed, having succeeded in getting him to curse. Not that you were keeping track or anything (3 today, huzah!). Mary was the current receptionist they had managed to keep for five months thus far (a new record as of late). She loved the occasional exotics they got in. You, not so much. And by “exotics,” you meant small pets like hamsters, birds, lizards… those sorts of things. And now, thanks to Utaugen Genetics Corp., add Bitties to the “exotics” list.

Man, you really didn’t want to touch that thing. Dogs and cats were your thing. Not fractious exotic mutant pets! But you were the one who let some guy just leave it on the desk. You figured you may as well help out. So, you went and found the thickest washcloth you could find and joined the doctor, who was getting together some antiseptic cleaning solution, cotton tipped applicators, some padding, roll gauze, tape, and some bright pink vet wrap bandaging material. Everything one needed to make a splint.

Veterinary medicine was always an interesting mix between an art and a science. The job demanded that you constantly come up with creative solutions to things you might not see every day. And then do these creative things all while avoiding both injuring the patient and getting bitten. Probably great skills should a zombie apocalypse arise. Not that you secretly hoped for such a thing…

Seemed tonight would be one of those creative-type evenings as Dr. Rivera took the towel from you and slowly dumped the jar over so he could carefully catch the squirming and snarling Bitty. The thing tried to kick and squirm away but flinched, seemingly hissing in pain and instead tried to bite the doctor, only to get a mouth full of towel.

He handed you the towel-wrapped Bitty and you gingerly took it, being careful not to let it bite you or squeeze too hard least you hurt its delicate looking ribs. Hm, it was a lot lighter than you expected. Though you guessed that made sense since it was basically supposed to be made of just a bone framework and a “soul” or some such nonsense. Ugh, people came up with some weird stuff via…er, science.

You studied its face, noting it somewhat resembled a human skull with a tiny nose hole, two gaping eye sockets and a perpetual grin (or was that a grimace?) with sharp, interlocking teeth. Though it seemed to be able to move its face and mouth somewhat, which was odd to say the least. Was it really made of bone? And its eyes were two glowing red dots with no pupil. They could dilate or constrict and seemed suspended in black sockets. As you held and studied it, it paused its attempted attacks with its mouth clamped on the towel and just looked at you.

“Please don’t bite me,” you told it as the doctor went to go get some bandage scissors. “We’re trying to help you.”

It let the towel fall from its mouth as it continued to warily stare you down. Well, that was better at least. Seemed talking to it was helping.

“Do you understand me?” You asked. “Are you one of those Bitties that can talk a little?”

It lifted its eyebrow bones and opened its mouth like it was going to say something, then closed it again as its glowing red eyes darted over to look at the returning doctor. The Bitty started frowning and growling again.

“Yeah, yeah, same to you,” Dr. Rivera muttered as he started to cut away the creature’s tattered clothing.

It growled louder and squeaked in protest, looking again at you with a blush(?) and a distressed look on its face.

“Don’t worry,” you reassured it. “We’ve just gotta get these off of you so we can clean and patch you up! You’re going to be ok.”

Dr. Rivera chuckled and the Bitty shot him a glare. “Think the thing understands you?” He asked as he continued to work. “Hm, definitely a fractured tibia. How is it even holding together?”

“I think it does understand,” you said, answering his first question as the Bitty went back to staring at you. “It seems pretty intelligent… definitely expressive.”

“Whatever you say,” he shrugged as he got to work with the antiseptic solution on its cracked tibia and the rest of its scuffed bones. It really was just a skeleton, all ribs and vertebrae and every other bone a skeleton should have. It squeaked and tried to push Dr. Rivera away with its good leg since its arms were pinned to its side by the towel.

“Hey, no kicking! You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep struggling!” You told it as it looked up at you with tears starting to form in its eye sockets. Poor thing! Unable to help yourself, you reached out with your free hand to pat its head but it quickly turned and snapped at your finger, almost biting you.

“Careful!” The doctor warned. “It’s still sort of an animal and will bite you if it gets the chance. And if you drop it, who knows if we’ll be able to catch it. I don’t want that thing running loose in my hospital.” He let out a sigh as he finished cleaning the Bitty’s leg. “I really wasn’t expecting to see one of these things this soon. Guess I’d better start studying up on designer Bitty pets before more start showing up here. Manufactured… pseudo-lifeforms definitely weren’t covered in Vet School. On second thought, if we get any more of these showing up, we can just send them up the road to Dr. Ross. She likes exotics anyway. Yeah, that’s a better idea. We’ll go with that.”

The Bitty sniffled but gave up struggling as the doctor made a makeshift leg splint out of broken cotton tipped applicator sticks and the bandaging material. Yeah, it sniffled, seemingly fighting back tears. You were starting to suspect this creature might be a little smarter than your average dog or cat though the doctor didn’t seem to agree with your assessment. Despite that, you continued to reassure the thing, explaining what was going on as the doctor completed each step (even though Dr. Rivera had rolled his eyes at you a few times). The Bitty seemed to understand what you were saying, or at least kept calm as it continued to watch you, only occasionally flinching and darting its eyes over to watch the doctor.

By the time you all finished patching it up with the neon pink vet wrap bandaging, the Bitty seemed exhausted and kept nodding off. You carefully returned it to the jar with the towel wrapped around it and put the little makeshift plastic cover back on.

“Where should I put it for the night?” You asked as you helped put away the supplies.

Dr. Rivera smirked at you and the florescent lighting glinted off his glasses as he pushed them up his nose. Uh oh. You knew that look. “Weeell…” He began, “since it really seems to like you, why don’t you bring it home with you and take care of it? Just until we figure out who to contact to get it back to the company where it came from.”

“B-But I’m not allowed to have pets where I live!” You sputtered. Oh hell no, you didn’t know how to take care of this creature! Plus you had heard rumors that Edgy Bitties liked to destroy things. And this one was broken and hurt and you didn’t know what to feed it or have anywhere to keep it! No way!

“Ah ah ah,” the doctor tsked you, probably reading the hesitation in your face. “YOU just let someone leave it at the hospital. I was nice enough to patch it up. It’s YOUR problem now.” He picked up the jar and shoved it into your hands as the Bitty inside stirred slightly. “Take it to the animal shelter tomorrow. I’ve got more phone calls to make so I’ll lock up the back door after you leave. Have a good night! Bah-bye!”

You glowered at him as he smiled widely at you, waved, and turned for his office. Grr. He was lucky you liked working for him. And that you were such a pushover. Ugh.

You thought about asking for pain meds for the Bitty but then remembered, oh yeah, it didn’t have organ systems like a… well, normal pet. Medicine probably wouldn’t work on it. The splint could at least brace its bones to allow it to heal on its own. Did they heal? Hopefully. Veterinary medicine really was a guessing game sometimes. Especially with weird pets like this.


	2. Chapter 2: Hamster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, this got a lot more hits/kudos than I was anticipating! Heh, thanks guys. Hope you continue to enjoy this! ^-^;
> 
> Also, this chapter is kinda short. Was at Otakon all weekend and didn't have much time to write! T-T

It was dark as you pulled your green VW Bug into the space reserved for it in front of your apartment. Luckily it had cooled down some from the sweltering heat of earlier. You could hear the neighbors two doors down screaming at each other as you shut off your car. Nothing new there, they always seemed to be fighting. The police had been out in front of their apartment on more than one occasion. Opening the car door, you were greeted by the familiar smell of stale cigarettes and car exhaust. Per usual, you quickly made your way to your apartment, having learned as long as you kept your head down, minded your own business, and spent as little time as possible outside, no one really bothered you. And you could just pretend the gunshots you heard at night sometimes were fireworks or the sounds of cars backfiring along the freeway. The large retaining wall behind the apartment complex was supposed to block out the noises of I-348. It didn’t. Though after a few years, the sound of traffic just kind of faded to background noise. Yup, traffic, yelling, and occasional gunshots. The sounds of home.

The front door of the apartment opened up to the side of your small kitchen which then lead to a small den and one bedroom. The bedroom led to a small bathroom. Not a glamorous dwelling by any means, but it was yours and you were proud of it. And you worked and paid for it. Like an adult.

Of course, your new little charge was awake. Well, at least you could see two glowing red eyes aimed at you and distorted by the glass jar as you place it on your dresser beside the donated hamster cage you had snagged from work on your way out. Well, at least it smelled like a hamster had lived in there before. Would the Bitty mind? Could it even smell things? The Bitty stared you down, pulling its little towel more firmly around itself. At least it wasn’t growling anymore.

Leaning down as the Bitty watched you, you tentatively sniffed at the cage. Ugh, it definitely smelled like hamster. But where else were you going to keep this little creature for the night? You certainly couldn’t just keep it in the jar. It looked really cramped in there. Welp.

Shrugging, you wiped the cage down one more time and Febrezed it a little for good measure before wiping it down again. Still smelled like hamster, but maybe less so. Good enough. To the cage, you added an old shirt for bedding, filled the small animal water bottle on the side with water, and then frowned, realizing you had no idea what to feed the Bitty. But at least the internet was a thing that existed. You got on your computer and had to do a little bit of searching until you finally found a website that had some information about the Edgy Bitties. Hm, they were biters (you had seen that), destructive, not the best pets, were recently recalled… blah blah…aha! Oh… they liked mustard? Well, that can’t be very healthy. Said they could eat anything a human could and then some as they didn’t have any particular nutritional requirements.

So you added the contents of a packet of mustard (from your stash of random fast-food condiments) to the tupperware lid you were using as a plate, as well as a little cheese and green leafy veggies… since um, calcium. Maybe they processed that the same way as other creatures for bone regrowth? Wouldn’t hurt either way.

With everything all set and the Bitty watching you from the jar the entire time you entered and exited the room, you carefully removed the plastic covering, slid the open part of the jar into the cage, and tilted it ever so slightly so it could slide out. Seemed it slid out a little too quickly. It clenched its teeth and let out a hissing breath as its bad leg was jarred on the cage bottom.

“Crap! Sorry! Sorry!” You said as you reached for the Bitty and then hesitated, thinking better of it and instead closed the cage door.

It shot you a dirty look as it readjusted the towel around to cover itself. Hm, it didn’t seem to like being without clothes. You should probably go out tomorrow and get it something to wear. No sense in sending it to the shelter without anything to cover itself. Odd, the fact that it didn’t like being without clothes was yet more evidence that this creature was very not animal-like. Could you really just dump it at an animal shelter?

Its little glowing eyes noticeably dilated as it spotted the little lid of food and it stood up awkwardly hobbling over to it while its clutched makeshift towel robe dragged behind it. Fully standing, you noticed the Bitty was about 4 inches tall.

  
It gingerly sat down and dragged the lid closer to itself so it could grab at the cheese and greens with both hands, plunging the food into the mustard before eagerly shoving it into its mouth. You watched, fascinated as the food just vanished as it chewed. Weird! You guessed its soul energy or whatever just burnt up food? So weird! Poor thing looked like it was starving. Though ugh, it was getting mustard on its ribs and all between its phalanges. About halfway through its meal, it paused as it noticed you watching it and grabbed at its towel to lift above the level of its shoulders again where it had slipped. It then frowned and… flipped you the bird! Holy…! Haha, no way!

Unable to help yourself, you burst out laughing. This thing was definitely able to understand and communicate a little if it understood the significance of that gesture! And now it was glaring and blushing again as it grabbed its towel tighter around itself, turning its back on you. Oh man, did you embarrass it? How did it even blush if it didn’t have blood? Though amusing, it was a little scary too. That creature was definitely not acting like any pet you’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry,” you said which just earned you a small grumble. “I guess I’ve just never really had much interaction with your kind before.” It shot you a look over its shoulder and sort of grunted, turning back to its food.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you can understand what I’m saying. Even if you can’t talk. Or maybe you just don’t want to. If you can talk, do you at least have a name I can call you?”

It continued to ignore you with its back turned as it idly dipped one finger in the mustard and brought it to its mouth. The mustard disappeared off its finger. So weird.

“Alright. Guess I’ll have to just come up with something to call you. Fair warning, I’m not that creative with names.”

No response.

“Ok. Well, let’s see… you’re a Bitty… you’re ornery… you bite….. Oh! I’ve got it! I’m gonna call you Bob! Haha, it’s an acronym! You probably have no idea what that even is!”

It turned to face you, looking affronted as it huffed and crossed its arms over its chest. Yup, you would definitely be calling it Bob.

You giggled. “What? It suits you!”

It rolled its eye lights at you as it turned its back on you again, pulling its towel tighter around itself. Hah, another communication gesture! It could definitely understand you!

“Alright, Bob. Tomorrow I’ll go find you some clothes that’ll fit you. Maybe something in pink to match your bandage?”

More growling.

“Haha, I’m kidding! I’m kidding! I’m sure you prefer the more edgelord style like your namesake. Blacks and reds it is.”

You smirked and turned your back to head to the bathroom so you could get ready for bed. No sooner was your back turned then you heard a crash and the sound of glass shattering behind you. You jumped and whirled around to see the glass jar you had carried Bob in shattered on the floor. The aforementioned Bitty was grinning evilly at you with one arm shoved through the cage bars (which apparently was able to reach the jar sitting beside the cage). With that same arm hanging outside the cage, it again flipped you off before withdrawing its arm back and hopping off to the side of the cage furthest away from you.

Hm, score one for Bob. You sighed as you went to find a broom and dustpan.


	3. Chapter 3: Acronyms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday. Have another chapter! ^-^
> 
> Warnings: Cursing
> 
> Also below the stars is a shift to Bob's POV.

About that intelligence. You were reminded of it again as you woke up to find a tiny frowning skeleton sitting on your chest as you blinked at him. So apparently a little sliding hook latch on a metal cage was no match for your new little friend. In hindsight, that should have been fairly obvious. That was fine. Bob hadn’t attacked you yet. There was no need to panic. Not panicking.

You swallowed. “M-morning?” You offered, your voice cracking at the end. Great. Way to not show fear. This was the end. You were going to get bitten. In the face.

“Tiny,” he announced in a deep, gravelly voice, surprising the heck out of you. One, because wow, ok, he said a word. And two, you thought he’d sound more high-pitched being so small.

“Excuse me?” You squeaked back.

“Your new name. Tiny. Because you’re tactless, idiotic, nosey, and you like to yap. Plus, it’s an ironic nickname.” He pushed himself to his feet…well, foot anyway. “Yeah, I can talk. And yeah, I do know what an acronym is. Asshole.”

With that, he was a blur as he slid off you and down to the floor, cursing as he landed.

Um… what? You shot up in bed, just barely catching a glimpse of him as he hopped/stumbled to the den before you heard little clacking hops from your kitchen.

…What? Your heart was pounding in your chest. What… the… hell? He can talk. Ok, fine. You could accept that. But he was fast! Even with a broken leg. And also… Tiny? Really?

You threw the covers off of yourself as you went to go search for him. But you didn’t have to search very far as you found him casually leaning against the fridge with his arms folded, balancing on his good leg. And you finally noticed that he had torn and made a sort of tunic for himself out of the old shirt you left him in the cage.

Standing there, your mouth gaping, you didn’t know what to say to him. He could do way more than just understand you and accomplish basic communication. And gah, you had teased him while he was down. Which, yeah, wasn’t really nice to do to anyone, pet or not. But this Edgy… was he really supposed to be a pet?

He gave you a flat look and huffed. “Look, I’m hungry. Be a pal and get me some more of that mustard and cheese? Or are ya just gonna stand there and gawk at me?”

“O-ok,” you stuttered.

He did that blur thing again, seemingly shooting from drawer peg to drawer peg before struggling to pull himself the rest of the way to the countertop. He was grimacing and sweating, trying to play it off like it didn’t hurt when he obviously bumped his bad leg again. Hm, apparently he had like super speed or something. Sure, why not? At least his splint was still intact. He let his legs dangle off the side of the counter as he sat catching his breath, the foot of his good leg clacking along the edge.

You swallowed, feeling guilty and somewhat awkward now that you knew that not only could he talk, but he seemed intelligent. Like a tiny human. And here you were just standing around in your pajamas!

“Um… so… you can talk? And…are fast?” You asked weakly, folding your arms over your chest self consciously.

“Um, so you have ears. And eyes,” he retorted and rolled his little glowing eyes at you.

And he was snarky. You shook your head. “Why… why didn’t you talk last night? Why talk now?”

Not really knowing what else to do, you pulled a mustard packet out of the drawer and went to go cut up some cheese to put on a small plate.

Bob sat silently watching you for a bit before he reached over and gabbed the mustard packet, dragging it over into his lap so he could try to tear it open. You really hoped he wouldn’t just start drinking it out of the packet.

“Dunno,” he finally answered. “Didn’t feel like it.” He grumbled as he continued to fiddled with the mustard.

“I see…” Unable to watch him struggle anymore, you snatched the packet out of his hands as he squeaked in protest and glared at you. You tore off the corner and squeezed some on the plate by the tiny pieces of cheese you had cut up.

He continued to glare at you, gritting his teeth but his angry look was quickly replaced by a look of content as you slid the plate of cheese and mustard beside him. He continued to watch you warily as he ate. You watched him too. It was awkward. But you weren’t quite sure what he’d do next. Seemed he didn’t quite trust you either.

As you watched him shove bits of cheese in the mustard and then into his mouth, you noticed he was getting mustard everywhere.  It was even getting all between his finger joints. Gross. Super gross. You wrinkled your nose.

“What? What are you looking at?” He snapped at you suddenly between bites of cheese.

“Ugh, I was just wondering if you needed a napkin or something. You’re kind of making a mess…”

“Fuck off,” he told you as mustard dribbled down his mandible and dripped onto his makeshift tunic. “Don’t tell me how to live my life!”

Then, as if his little attitude weren’t enough, he made direct eye contact with you as he put his hands under the plate and flung it to the floor with a loud crash and a manic, toothy smile.

“Seriously? What the hell? Stop breaking stuff! Ugh, what’s wrong with you?” You snapped at him as he flinched, his arms shooting up in front of his face. Oh man! You hadn’t really meant to scare him.

But before you could apologize, he was cutting his eyes and snarling at you and gesturing widely. “Me? Me?! What’s wrong with me?? You’re the psycho that helped that doctor cut off my clothes and then wrap this godawful pink monstrosity around me!” He angrily went to tear at the bandages wrapping his leg and then winced.

“Hey, we were trying to help you! Leave that bandage alone.”

“Yeah, well, I can heal just fine on my own. Don’t need all this crap.”

“Again with the just trying to help!” You said, though you weren’t convinced he didn’t need that splint.

He ignored you, continuing, “And then when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse? You sling me into this tiny prison that smells like dead hamster, give me a stupid name, and start insulting me! And I didn’t even bite you or anything!”

“You tried to!”

“When I thought you and that doctor were trying to hurt me, yeah. I may have tried. But I didn’t actually do it.” He glowered at you with his arms folded.

You took in a deep breath and let it out. Arguing with Bob wasn’t helping anything. Shaking your head again, you bent down to clean up the broken plate. Ugh, you couldn’t just get angry and snap at this little guy. Besides… he was alone and hurt and was kind of at your mercy. Some stranger he didn’t even know. To some extent, he was probably scared.

“I’m sorry,” you told him, after a few calming breaths. “I truly am. I really had no idea about… well, anything about you. I didn’t know you were so smart. I shouldn’t have insulted you.”

Silence. You glanced up as he stared down at you, his head tilted and a curious look on his face. “Uh. Yeah, well, you know what they say about assuming…” He scratched the back of his skull awkwardly, looking away. “Uh… I’m sorry too… I guess. About trying to bite ya and for breaking your stuff… Yeah, um, about that… I uh… can’t really help that. It’s kind of this weird impulse with me… like I see something breakable and just have to destroy it? Heh, ya might wanna hide any glass or pottery you have away where I can’t see it. Ya know, as long as I’m here anyway…” He continued to scratch the back of his head as he looked away from you.

You sighed, standing to go throw the plate pieces away. “Fine. Duly noted. Well, since we’re on the topic of sharing things, what… what should I call you? Do you have a name? Maybe from your previous family? And speaking of that, did you have some place you wanted to go back to?”

“I don’t really have… Bob is fine. You can keep calling me Bob… It’s… it’s not that stupid. And no, no family…” He looked a little… sad as he said the last part. Like there was something more to that story. You were curious where he came from but it seemed like he didn’t want to talk about it. Well, you could relate and didn’t ask. He rubbed his hand across his chin, smearing the mustard. “So do I just keep calling you Tiny?”

You laughed. “You can call me Tiny. It’s funny.”

He seemed to relax a little bit. “Suit yourself, Tiny.”

“Speaking of suits… while your… er, tunic is lovely, I’m sure you’d probably like something better to wear? There’s a Bitty store about an hour away. We could go get you some actual clothes if you wanted to.”

He looked surprised. “…You’re buying me clothes? And ‘we?’ As in, you’d bring me with you?”

“Sure! Why not? I could carry you since your leg is hurt. Seriously though, don’t bite me.”

“Carry me? Like in a jar like before?” He grimaced at that. “And I’m not gonna bite ya. Geez. You’d probably just drop me or something.”

“I won’t drop you. And nope! No jars. Wait right there! I’ve got just the thing.” You rushed off to the other room to retrieve your brilliant idea for transporting Bob around. Returning, you proudly held up your awesome retro 90s neon-colored wonder. “Taa daa!” You sang.

“…A fanny pack.” He stared at you like you had lost your mind.

“Yup! There’s plenty of room in it for you and you could even curl up and sleep… if… you wanted to…” You trailed off as you saw him give you a clearly repulsed look.

“Um… no? I’m not riding around in that. Why would you even… just no. No.” He narrowed his eyes and his mouth seemed to stretch in an almost snarl at it, clearly disgusted.

“Well, how else should I carry you around? I’m afraid I’ll hurt your leg if I carry you in my hands. Or sweat on you or something.”

“Uh, I could ride on your shoulder? Kinda like other Bitties do with their owners? Argh, don’t you know anything at all about my kind?”

“I thought we already established that I don’t. And I’m not your owner.”

Wow, the look on his face looked like you just slapped him or kicked a puppy or something… all shocked and hurt.

“Hey, woah, what did I say now?” You said, holding your hands up in a placating gesture.

“…It’s nothing,” he mumbled as he now wouldn’t even look at you and crossed his arms over his chest again.

What the hell had you said? “I’m sorry I didn’t know Bitties ride around on shoulders. You can ride around on my shoulder if you want to!”

“Maybe I don’t want to!” He snapped at you suddenly as he leapt up to his good leg, gesturing angrily with his arms. “Maybe I’ll just hop and dash after you ’till I just collapse and then you can just kick me along the ground! Or better yet! Bring that lame ass fanny pack and I’ll ride around in that! Argh, you know what? Just forget it! Forget it!” And with that, he hopped off the counter, somehow carefully landing on his good leg, and stormed/hobbled off behind the fridge and out of sight.

You were left standing and blinking after him. Well, that just happened. Shaking your head, you grabbed yourself a granola bar and went to go take a shower and give Bob some space to cool off after his temper tantrum. You had a feeling if you tried to say anything else, it would just set him off more. Ugh. You definitely didn’t sign up for this. Whatever. Let him be all moody.

 

**********Bob's POV**********

  
He really shouldn’t have been so surprised. Shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. Just because you showed him the tiniest bit of kindness and spoke to him like… well, like he was a person and not just some thing, didn’t mean you wanted him around. No one wanted him. Argh, you didn’t even want to touch him. He was a mistake. Shouldn’ta broken out of his container. Shoulda just let himself be taken… like the others…

Frowning, he wiped at his face. Nah, he wasn’t gonna cry. Wasn’t gonna just sit there feeling sorry for himself. The back of the fridge was just a nice place to hang out. He flicked a dust mote away. Yeah, behind the fridge was just swell. And he really wasn’t surprised. All humans were alike. You were no different.

But why were you even showing him any kindness? Why weren’t you just immediately packing him up to take to the animal shelter like you had discussed with that shitty doctor? It was confusing. You were just confusing in general. At least other humans seemed to have clear, easy to read intentions.

Whatever. May as well just go along with it for now. What choice did he really have? He had already proven to himself that he couldn’t really survive on his own. He was created to be dependent on others. Fucking humans.


	4. Chapter 4: AC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday! Have another chapter. 
> 
> Warnings: Language, maybe Bitty racism?

Bob was still being moody and not talking to you as he limped his way to your car and did his jump/blur thing up to the passenger seat (after you opened the door for him) and then the narrow dashboard. You noticed he could only do the dash thing a few feet at a time and probably not through solid obstacles. He sat on the dashboard hunched forward with his bad leg held out and his good leg bent to his chest. He kept his arms crossed over his good knee, chin resting on it and glaring through the windshield.

You really didn’t think it was safe for him to ride up there, but what other option was there? He was way too small to buckle into the passenger seat.

As you drove, you saw his little red eye lights glance at you from the corners of his narrowed sockets now and again. Ugh, he had quite the temper. And you didn’t even do anything! All you had done was try to help him and be nice to him. Even when he was being a jerk. Whatever. Keep acting up, Bob. Pity would only get him so far.

You gripped the wheel but drove carefully, not taking sharp turns so he didn’t slide off the dashboard. Though it was really tempting.

It was looking to be another hot day and your car AC wasn’t the best. Man, if only you could crack the windows. But you were afraid the force of the wind would knock Bob over or worse yet, he would fly out the window or something. But would that really be so terrible? Bitty problem solved. No, no. You wouldn’t do that. You would just suffer the heat. Seemed Bob didn’t even really notice the heat. You were sure the dashboard had to be hot but he wasn’t flinching or sweating or anything. Could he even sweat? Hadn’t he sweated when he did the dash thing earlier and hurt his leg?

The nearest Bitty store was an hour away. An hour’s worth of Bob cutting you dirty looks and groaning at your music choice. Whatever, dubstep was amazing.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Bob groaned as you finally pulled into the shopping center and he read the Bitty storefront sign: ‘Bonetiful Bitty Botique’

“Pfft… Hahaha!” You couldn’t help it anymore. In all fairness, the store name was ridiculous. But his overly disgusted expression! Hah, he really was expressive for a tiny skeleton! And wow, still learning things about your little charge: Bob could read.

He looked over and glared at you but it was a weak glare and you noticed the start of a grin fighting at the corners of his mouth.

“You done being mad at me now?” You asked between laughter.

“Do you always ask stupid questions?” He shot back.

“Ugh, I said I was sorry.” You leaned your head back groaning and rubbed your face with both hands.

“You say that a lot.” He was staring at you curiously again.

More silence. Well, at least he had stopped glaring at you. And you reminded yourself yet again, to try to have patience with the little guy. Deep breaths and all that.

You took a breath and sighed, unbuckling your seatbelt. “Well, can we at least go in and get you your clothes?”

“I guess… But I’m not actually going to ride around in a fanny pack…”

“Good, because I didn’t bring it.”

“And maybe being on the ground is a bad idea after all…”

“Yeah, I agree. Guess you’re stuck riding around on my shoulder. Sucks to be you.” You smirked, holding out your hand to him.

He stared at it, then looked back at you. “I guess… Sucks to be me.” Huh. He actually may have smiled a little. What looked to be a real smile.

Tentatively, he reached out his hand and placed it on your pointer finger, looking up at you to gauge your reaction, like you may jerk your hand away. You smiled, encouragingly you hoped. His tiny hand was really warm. Like not warm enough to burn you, but definitely warmer than a cat or dog. Maybe like coffee after it has cooled off a little? Was that from sitting on the hot dashboard?

When you didn’t jerk your hand away, he carefully placed both hands on yours and hoisted himself up into your palm. Yeah, holding him was like holding a warm cup of coffee. You didn’t notice him being overly warm when you held him in the towel the previous night. Definitely must be from sitting on the dashboard.

Hm. It seemed it didn’t take much to cheer Bob up. He was downright chipper as you all made your way into the Bitty store, humming some tune and clutching your hair and everything. Hah, he was actually kind of cute like this. Though thinking of him like a cute pet was wrong, wasn’t it? Eh, whatever.

As you went through the automatic doors, two things hit you at once. One, the air conditioner. They really kept it cold in the store! Also, you were severely underdressed. Who would have thought people would show up so dressed up just to go to a pet clothing store? Gah, you didn’t even care about fashion but could tell most people in there were wearing expensive designer brands. And their Bitties were similarly dressed very well.

The mood started to sour a bit as people with their Bitties literally gawked at you and Bob. Uugh, you hated attention. Was it because of the mustard-stained tunic Bob was wearing? Or maybe it was your haphazard tank top and shorts combo? The bruises and scratches along your legs and arms from work? All of the above? And it was so surreal having not only humans stare you down, but those taller skeleton Bitties (Poppies?) with their glowing purple eyes and Baby Blues with their glowing blue eyes stare from their owner’s shoulders as the two of you walked by.

You could feel Bob tensing on your shoulder and sort of hunch into himself. People whispered as you passed. What the hell? Rude. You quickly ducked down the “darker clothing” aisle that was relatively empty save for a woman and her Baby Blue Bitty babbling incoherently but enthusiastically at its human as it sat on her shoulder. The woman just laughed and patted its head. It gave an alarmed squeak as it spotted you and the woman looked over and gave you a wide-eyed look too. Bob growled. The lady covered her Bitty protectively and quickly scooted over to a different aisle. Well, that was one way to stop the staring. Not the nicest way, but effective none the less. Still…

“Growling at people isn’t nice,” you whispered as you started scanning the clothes hung in plastic packaging. They were displayed along the wall like doll clothes displays in toy stores.

“Yeah, well, they started it and it made ‘em leave. Have you even noticed the looks I’m getting?”

“Maybe it’s because of your fancy condiment-stained attire. Which we’re here to fix.”

“No, pretty sure that’s not it,” he grumbled.

“Whatever. Hey! Look! They have long black coats.” You pointed out, trying to lighten the mood again. “Haha, I’ll bet this is the kind of stuff you want to wear, right? Aw, and little black shirts and pants and boots! So you can look all dark and broody and moody!”

You giggled and glanced over at him as he grumbled, but failed to stifle a small grin. Yup, he was definitely into that kind of clothing. You grabbed the little packages getting him a coat, a pair of boots, and a black shirt and pants. Ugh, these little clothes were expensive… but he did need stuff to wear.

“Do you want other colors too?” You asked.

Before he could answer, a store employee with a Poppy Bitty on his shoulder rounded the corner and approached you all, calling out, “Excuse me, customer.”

Ah crap, maybe he was talking to someone else? No… you were the only one on this aisle. Great. Unwanted human interaction. And “customer.” Really? Though he did stop a healthy distance away.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask that you take that outside!” He pointed at Bob and the Poppy crossed its arms and seemingly looked down its nose…er, nasal bone at Bob.

“W-What?” You stuttered, stunned and a bit confused. “Why?”

Bob was silent as you met his eyes and then looked back at… ‘Chip,’ you read on his name tag. ‘Ass. Manager.’ Hah, that was probably supposed to mean assistant manager. What an unfortunate place to cut the name tag off to make everything fit! Haha, ass. No, don’t laugh. He was still talking to you.

“I’m sorry, but Edgies aren’t allowed in our store. Frankly, you really shouldn’t have one anymore. Don’t you know they’ve been recalled?” He chided you.

“Well…” You tried to interject, but were interrupted.

“Also, one of our customers complained that your Edgy almost attacked her Baby Blue just a few minutes ago. Again, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to take that thing outside. You are more than welcome to shop here, but you can’t bring that Edgy in with you.” Chip placed his hands on his hips authoritatively, pointing you toward the door.

Well, what were you supposed to do? That ass manager wasn’t going to back down and you really didn’t want to make a scene… even if he was wrong. You set the pile of plastic packaging on the shelf closest to you and turned to make your way out of the store. Great, seemed everyone in the store overheard the exchange and silently stared as you and Bob walked out.

Oddly, Bob was being very quiet. Surprisingly so. From what little interaction you had with Bob, you would have expected him to tell the guy to ‘fuck off’ or at least growl or something. But there was nothing! You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye and he was tensely staring straight ahead, his sharp teeth clamped and his perpetual grin almost a frown. He was no longer clutching your hair and was crossing his arms. Was he upset? You couldn’t really blame him.

“You ok?” You asked him as soon as you were outside.

“Peachy,” he snapped.

Definitely upset. But he still needed clothes and you were garbage at sewing… The next closest Bitty store was another two hours away at least and there was no guarantee they would treat Bob any better. You were stuck.

“I could… take you back to the apartment and come back out here…” You started.

“You’re going back in there?!” He cried.

“Bob, I have to. There’s nowhere…”

“You know what? Go. Go back in there. Don’t worry about me. I’ll just wait in the fucking car. Not like the heat will hurt me or anything. It’s fine. Just great. Actually, don’t even bother walking me back there. I’ll just go wait beside it.” And with that, he leapt to the ground wincing and clutching at his leg as he landed a little too hard. Ah man, and he didn’t have any shoes on!

“Wait!” You went to pick him up. “Are you ok? Do you want me to…”

“Just leave me alone!” His voice cracked as he slapped your hand away and started limping toward the car.

Well. You understood him being upset, but he didn’t have to lash out at you. Still, you stood and watched and made sure he made it back to the car safely. You really didn’t want him to be crushed by traffic, even if he was being a little shit to you. He went to sit under your car behind a tire, out of sight.

You squinted in his direction, clenching your jaw. Seemed you had messed up. Again. And here you were just trying to help! Again. You had been nothing but nice to him but it seemed like no matter what you did, you just managed to piss him off. Why were you trying so hard? You usually didn’t put this much effort into being nice to people. Especially people you had just met. It always backfired!

Eventually, you turned around heading back inside the store. Ugh, why did you even care that Bob was angry at you again? Why did you always care so friggin much about others even when they didn’t care about you? This. This was why you didn’t really have anyone that close to you in life. You always seemed to mess up somehow when it came to interacting with others. Considering where you came from, it was no big surprise… but you digressed. Focus. Save the negativity for the journal. At least you could do one thing right. You would get Bob some nice clothes even if you had to dig into this week’s food budget. Even if you didn’t know why you were even bothering.

 


	5. Chapter 5: Sarcasm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday. Hope the week has been treating you all well! 
> 
> Warnings: Language, hints of past abuse

Ugh, those little clothes really were expensive! And the people in the store were pretentious jerks. But you managed to get a nice jacket, boots, and a few shirts and shorts and pants. Alas, looked like you would be eating ramen for the next week.

“Hey, I’m back,” you announced to your front driver’s side tire. No response. A cold feeling of dread started to settle in your chest. What if… would he run away? Try to live on his own? He had been found outside before! What if he tried that again and got hurt?

You got down on your hands and knees, a little desperate now looking under your car and calling, “Bob?!”

“Argh! Shit! Lower your volume!” Bob startled and growled as he sat propped against the tire rubbing at his eyes. Oh thank goodness, he was ok. Wait… again, why were you that worried? Also, was he sleeping? But his eyes looked a little wet…

You reached out for him but hesitated, dropping your arm. He cut his eyes at you but said nothing more, pushing himself to his feet… er, foot.

The ride back to the apartment was awkward. Much like the ride to the store. Bob was not speaking to you again and you were trying to figure out what to say to him. Gah, this weekend was not going the way you had expected at all. When you got off work Friday, all you wanted to do was go home and write in your journal, read, and play video games. What you usually did on your days off. You certainly didn’t intend on bringing a pet home. And then find out that he actually wasn’t a pet at all. And then go out of your way to try to make him happy. And fail repeatedly. Why? Why did you even care? He was a moody little shit. You really should just dump him off at the nearest animal shelter. But no, you wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be right. Again with him not being a pet.

You glanced over as his little eyes darted away from you. He pretended not to notice you and stare through the windshield. You sighed. In a way, he kind of reminded you of how you used to be… You were starting to realize you had probably been resigned to the fact that you had a new roommate the minute he sat on your chest and called you an asshole. Hah, what was wrong with you? And besides all that, would he even want to live with you? He didn’t seem to have anywhere else to go.

As soon as you opened the car door, Bob brushed past you and went to stand in front the apartment door with his back turned. Then, as soon as you opened the apartment door, he made a beeline for your bedroom and went to hide or sulk or whatever under your bed. Fine. That was fine. You took a deep breath and let it out. Still not getting angry.

You carefully cut the clothes out of their plastic packaging. Why did everything have to be so difficult? Why did you just seem to do everything wrong when it came to Bob? Ugh, why did plastic packaging always have to be so nearly indestructible??

After finally freeing all the little clothes, you folded them all into a neat little pile setting the boots on top. It was really awkward folding such tiny clothes but you managed. Hm, maybe you should wash them first? But nah, it wasn’t like they smelled bad or anything besides maybe the faint plastic smell of the packaging. Carefully balancing the little pile of clothes in one hand, you grabbed a granola bar and a juice box (yeah, a juice box, a totally adult beverage) with the other and made your way back to your bedroom. You kneeled so you could lean down and peek under the bed.

As expected, Bob was under there hunched over hugging his one good knee to his chest with his back to you.

You sighed, for probably the millionth time that day. So much breath wasted. “You don’t have to talk to me, but I’m putting the clothes I got you and something to eat right here just in case. Oh! Almost forgot!”

You rushed off to the kitchen and filled a small bowl with warm water, grabbed a washcloth, and returned to the side of the bed, kneeling down again.

“And here’s some stuff in case you want to bathe or whatever. I’m sure your feet are dirty…” You waited to see if he would even acknowledge you.

Nope.

Your eye twitched in irritation. “Yeah, seriously. No need for thanks or anything. Your cold shoulder and lack of any kind of response are all the thanks I need.”

Still nothing. Well. Whatever. You tried. You were done trying now. Time to salvage what was left of your Saturday and do something fun. Bob could just sulk on his own.

You weren’t but an hour or so into your latest first person shooter when you heard the sound of something shattering in your room. What the…. uuuugh, right. The bowl. Made of ceramic. Oops. Deep breath. At that rate, you would probably be out of breakable dishes by the end of the week. Eh, they were cheap thrift store finds anyway. Like most of the stuff in your apartment. Definitely not worth getting worked up over. Shrugging your shoulders and cracking your neck, you continued mowing down your opponents with virtual bullets.

Much later that night, you went back to your room to find Bob had cleaned up the shards and water from the broken bowl. Also, he had eaten part of the granola bar, drank some of the juice, and was curled up in the hamster cage wearing one of the pairs of black shorts (rolled up to accommodate the leg bandage) and a black shirt you had given him. If the even breathing was any indication, he was sound asleep. Odd he’d decided to sleep in the apparently dead hamster smelling cage but whatever. Guess he figured he had nowhere else to sleep? Hm, you should probably correct that in the morning.

*****

You yet again woke up the next morning to find little glowing red eyes staring at you, but this time Bob was sitting on the side of the bed.

“Thank you,” he said as he noticed you had woken up.

“Huh?” You yawned as you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes.

“I said thank you. Been doing some thinking and uh… I don’t think I’ve ever said it.”

“Yeah… Sure. You’re welcome, Bob. Do you want some breakfast?” Well, seemed like you all were on speaking terms again.

“Yes… but that’s not why I said what I did. I’m… I guess not really used to this?” He motioned between you and himself as if that were supposed to make sense. “And frankly, uh… look. I’ll just out and say it. No one’s ever really been… nice to me before and it’s kinda weird. I know today you’re probably planning on taking me to some animal shelter, and I’m gonna try to convince you not to. I know what happens to me if I go there… You said you didn’t wanna be my owner and that’s fine. I get it. But maybe you could just let me go outside? Heh, would be my best chance I guess. I’m kinda confused why you keep being nice to me and why you got me so many clothes if you’re just gonna send me away anyway. But I do owe ya thanks for doing all that and even letting me stay in the first place.”

You blinked at him. “You think I’m going to send you away?”

Bob seemed like he would say something but stopped, squinting up at you. He looked even more confused, tilting his head to the side as he studied your face, seemingly trying to figure out your meaning. Like he really did think you were sending him away.

You wracked your brain thinking about why he would think that. Dr. Rivera and you had discussed before about dropping Bob off at a shelter, but that was before you knew. And you hadn’t done that and weren’t going to do that. Why would Bob think that? You certainly didn’t remember saying you didn’t want him… Wait… oh… Oh crap. Yeah… on second thought, maybe you kinda had.

Yesterday when he had looked so hurt and then blew up at you, it had little to do with you not understanding about Bitties. It was because you said you weren’t his owner! You weren’t though! It wasn’t right to own another person. But that didn’t mean you didn’t want him around. Had you even told him or hinted that you were going to ask him if he wanted to stay with you? No, no you hadn’t.

Ugh, you felt like an ass. No wonder he had been so upset! God, he thought you were going to take him to some shelter which would probably return him to the company where he came from. Then the company would… wait. What usually happened to recalled items? They got destroyed, didn’t they? … Was that what they were doing to the recalled Edgies? Just… killing them?!

God, that was entirely possible. And Bob wasn’t stupid. He knew. And here he sat thanking you for showing him just a little bit of kindness even if he thought you didn’t care about him. And he was seriously just politely asking that you reconsider sending him to certain death to instead send him to a less certain death.

Bob kept watching you, his confusion growing to concern as you probably made some horrible face, disgusted it had taken you this long to figure stuff out. Poor Bob. You of all people knew what it was like to have no place to go. To be unwanted.

No. You couldn’t let him think that. You had to spell things out clearly, since you both had been misunderstanding so much. Even if you did have to talk about feelings and junk. Ugh. Taking a deep breath to ground yourself, you got up out of bed and kneeled down in front of Bob so you could be eye to eye. His eye sockets widened and his glowing pupils constricted as he looked at you uncertainly.

“I am not sending you away,” you said. “You can stay here as long as you want to. But when I said I’m not your owner, I meant it. But just not in the way you thought. You are not a pet. You are a person… a small, moody, skeletal person, but a person none the less. So if you live here with me, it will be as a roommate. An equal, not a pet. I… want you to stay.”

And oddly enough, you realized you meant it. You did want him to stay. This wasn’t just out of pity or some mess. You genuinely might have been starting to growing attached to the little jerk.

“You…you want me to stay?” He nearly whispered, the little lights of his eyes growing brighter and larger.

You swallowed. Ah, don’t be a softie. Enough of the feelings mess. Walls back up. Play it off. “Psh. Sure, why not? Not like you take up much space. Plus, you seem to have a knack for keeping annoying people from getting too close while we’re out so, bonus. That is, if you want to stay?”

Bob looked away, hastily wiping at one of his eyes as he mumbled, “Ok. I mean, fine. Ok. Whatever. I guess I can crash here for a while. Yeah.”

You smiled, standing and offering out your hand nonchalantly. “Cool. So now that that’s settled, wanna come keep me company while I cook us up some eggs?”

He smiled, a genuine smile, and eagerly reached out to hop up into your hand. And he was feeling overly warm again. Weird.

The rest of the morning was spent cooking, eating breakfast and not talking about anything in particular. Seemed you all had made some headway in understanding each other. At least a little.

That afternoon, figuring since you all were going to be roommates, you showed him how to use the TV and log on to the internet. Seemed he could type as well as read (not very fast, but impressive considering how small he was). Bob really was very smart. It was crazy how quickly he learned things, only having to be shown once.

Later that evening, you all went to the grocery store and Bob sat dutifully perched on your shoulder growling at anyone he thought was getting too close. The whole thing was hilarious as people kept startling and moving away and you were trying desperately not to laugh. God, you really shouldn’t have encouraged that. What if you both got kicked out of another store? Though, admittedly, it was kind of nice not having people bump into you as you shopped. It was also kind of nice not shopping alone too, you guessed. He was wearing the black coat, shirt, shorts, and boots you had gotten him (despite the warm summer weather). Truly he was looking like the moody little Edgy edgelord he wanted to be. Save for the bright pink bandaging on his leg, but you didn’t dare tease him about it. You didn’t want him tearing it off.

Gah, your food budget for the week had been kind of shot. And now you had another mouth to feed. Not that he ate a whole heck of a lot. Maybe more than you would think for his size, but not a lot. Still. You loaded up your cart with ramen, dried beans, rice, some cheap frozen veggies, and mustard (for Bob). You’d have to skip on things like meat, cheese, and granola bars this week. Oh well. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Bob frowning down at your meager selections though he didn’t say anything.

It was dark out by the time you pulled up to your apartment. Per usual, you made a beeline to your door avoiding the attention of your neighbor who was yelling at his wife through the door.

After putting away the groceries, you returned to the den to find Bob had turned on the news. They were doing a report on the recent Bitty craze. Well, at least among the people who could afford them at $10,000 each. Sheesh, they really were expensive. You sat down next to Bob who was picking at his bandage. Bob grumbled at you as you flicked his hand away from his leg.

“And speaking of Bitties,” the anchorwoman continued, “Last month a voluntary recall was issued for the Edgy brand of the Bitty line after one bit a child. Utaugen compensated the family and issued a public apology stating that the Edgy Bitties had previously unforeseen personality disorders. They promised that the Edgy line of the Bitties will be discontinued. Consumers are encouraged to return the Edgies or their microchip to their place of purchase or to the nearest Utaugen Corporation location for a full refund. When returning, paperwork must…”

You changed the channel to put on some cartoons as you noticed Bob looking upset. Cartoons always cheered you up. Though, yeah, he wasn’t looking all that cheered up. Who could blame him? That anchorwoman was talking about him like…like his people were just some disposable things. And unwanted things at that. It wasn’t right. But what could you possibly say to make any of this better? Bob just sat there kind of staring off, not even watching TV.

You shut off the TV. Bob continued to stare at the blank screen. Well, you should probably say something. Maybe get him to talk about it…

“Wanna talk about it?” You tried.

He grimaced, then stared down at his feet seemingly studying his boots. “…Nah.”

Alright. He didn’t want to talk about it. But he was looking anxious and depressed and you wanted to say something.

“Just so you know… um, I’m not selling you or whatever back to that company.”

“Why?” He turned his head so he could look up at you with his dim eye lights. Ah. Of course he would wonder. He probably noticed that you weren’t the wealthiest person in the world.

You looked down at him, debating on your answer. Would he really believe you weren’t planning on selling him? Did he really have any reason to have faith in anyone?

“Because,” you gave him your most serious expression. “I’m holding out for more money. You’re such a pain in the ass, you’ve got to be worth at least double that.”

He stared blankly at you for a few seconds. Then, he completely lost it, literally falling over laughing. Oh wow, his actual laugh was significantly higher pitched than his talking voice!

“Oh my god!” He gasped between his fits of giggles. “You really are the most tactless person I’ve ever met! You’re the worst!”

You laughed too as he tried to get ahold of himself. This was the first time you had actually heard him laugh since you brought him home. You were glad you could cheer him up. If even just a little. And bonus, he appreciated your horrible sarcastic humor. Seemed you all had something else in common.


	6. Chapter 6: Veterinary Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Monday done and over with. Only 4 more days until the weekend. Yay? ^~^; Well, here's hoping you all have a good week!
> 
> Warnings: Reader has a bad relationship with dad, language

Deciding that Bob really shouldn’t sleep in the dead hamster cage anymore, you got out your fleece blanket to make him a bed on the couch. But for some crazy unknown reason, he tried to fight you, saying the cage was fine. You insisted on the blanket and eventually he caved. Well, at least he sat grumbling beside the blanket with his arms folded but was no longer outright arguing.

“It’s temporary. Maybe we can get a box or something and make you your own room eventually?” you reasoned.

“Or, I could stay under your bed. It’s roomy and dark.”

“Um… no? Not exactly keen on the idea of having like a literal skeleton sleep under my bed for one thing. Talk about monsters under the bed! Also, total lack of privacy.”

“Lack of… seriously? The other night you just changed your clothes right in front of me while I was on the dresser! Not to mention the fact that you brought me here while I was clothed in nothing but a towel! And now you’re all worried about privacy?!”

You blushed, stuttering, “W-well… that was because… how was I supposed to know… I didn’t know you were…”

“What? Halfway intelligent? Able to talk? So if I were like a dog or cat, privacy wouldn’t be an issue? I’m sure there are some smart cats and dogs out there too. Argh. You’re weird. Humans are weird.”

“Whatever. I really don’t know why you’re insisting on staying under…” Your cellphone pinged, that familiar ping you had reserved for that person in particular. Son of a bitch, what the hell did he want now?

“Uh… you ok? That tone… was that your phone?” His irritation was replaced with worry as you were probably making a horrible face.

“None of your business! Goodnight!” You snapped and he flinched as you whirled around, storming off to your room and slamming the door.

Taking a deep breath, you fished your phone out of your pocket and sure enough, your father had sent you a text. Of course, just a simple message saying he missed you and asking how you had been. Where you had moved now since you weren’t at your old apartment. God, you had moved over a year ago.

If your father was contacting you now it could only mean one thing: He would try to guilt you into giving him money. Again. But no, you weren’t going to let that happen. This time you wouldn’t even answer his text. Instead, you pulled your worn journal out from the nightstand drawer and started writing like you always did when you were feeling bad. Writing things down helped you get out all of your negative feelings without blowing up at some poor unsuspecting person or crying or doing something else unsightly. You could just pour all the bad things about yourself away in your journal and then close it up and forget about it. Lock it away where no one else could see it. Cathartic and a hell of a lot cheaper than therapy.

****  
  
The shrill sound of your phone alarm woke you at 6AM sharp. You slapped at it angrily finally fumbling with it and shutting it off. Ugh, another day, another dollar. But maybe you could sleep just five more minutes…

Wait, no. You had to get up. Had you even told Bob you had work all day today? What would he do while you were gone? You’d have to make sure he had food and water. In non-breakable dishes. And geez, you had snapped at him just before going to bed and had even closed your door. Which, admittedly, it was kind of nice not to wake up to being stared at after the last two mornings. But still. You’d have to do some damage control. But later. After showering and changing into your scrubs. Ah, scrubs. The ever unflattering pajamas that sometimes carry the not so faint scents of animals and their various bodily fluids. Your life was glamorous. Luckily your one tiny bathroom was attached to your room so you could do your morning routine without disturbing your new roommate.

After getting ready, as quietly as possible (since your room led straight to the den), you carefully opened the door so you wouldn’t wake up Bob if he was sleeping. Turned out he was. Propped up against your door. He fell in as you opened the door and his arms shot out to stop himself from falling.

“Uh… morning Tiny.” He looked up and gave you a sheepish sort of grimace while rubbing the back of his skull.

“…Is there a reason you were sleeping there when you had a perfectly good blanket on the couch?” You looked down at him, maybe feeling a little bad.

“Again, don’t tell me how to live my life?” He supplied weakly.

You sighed, giving up. At least he didn’t seem upset after the previous night so you decided not to even bring it up least he ask about the text. You didn’t even want to go there. “Fair enough. Anyway, I’ve gotta go to work.”

He pushed himself up, hobbling on his bad leg and dusting off his shorts. “Ok. Cool. Guess I could get this bandage changed. Itches like crazy. But not by that doctor. And then I can just hang out and keep you company.”

“Wait, woah. No. You’re staying here. We get way too busy for you to just hang out with me. Plus we have many glass jars and containers of injectables on the shelves. You’ll break something.”

“Not if I sit on your shoulder I won’t!”

“You can’t just sit on my shoulder! I literally wrestle dogs and cats as a good chunk of my job! You’d get hurt.”

“What about my itchy bandage?” He leaned over and dug at it with his sharp little finger bones to punctuate his point.

“Stop messing with that! I’ll bring the stuff home and help you change it after work. I can’t babysit you today. Mondays are always hectic.”

“You don’t have to babysit me! Just bring me in that damn stinky hamster cage! I won’t try to escape! I promise!” He was getting rather insistent.

“Bob. You’ll be fine. I’m going to leave you some food and water and juice, whatever you want. You’ve got the TV. You’ve got the internet. Seriously, you’ll be fine.” You stepped over him to start getting food and stuff out.

He hopped after you, clutching at your pant leg when you stopped at the fridge. “You’re really gonna make me beg, aren’t ya? Argh, fine. Please. Please take me with you.”

“Bob. Why…”

He cut you off. “Please. Don’t leave me here alone.”

He stared up at you intently, his hands clasped onto your pant leg. Wow, he was really serious. He would rather spend hours locked in a cage at the vet hospital than spend all day home alone? Was he afraid to be left alone? Why?

But you didn’t ask him. After all of the events over the weekend, poor guy had suffered enough blows to his pride. “Alright,” you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “But if you break even one thing, we’ll both be out of a home. Because I’ll get fired.”

“I won’t.” He visibly relaxed, grinning.

“And no cursing out the doctor or my coworkers or any of the clients.”

“I won’t. Thank you.”

You sighed again, resignedly leaning down and offering your hand so he could climb up and you could place him on your shoulder. You made peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, grabbed an apple, filled your water bottle, and got the last of the granola bars for breakfast. Then, you grabbed your bag heading for the front door.

“Not gonna bring the cage?” Bob asked from your shoulder.

“Nah. Worst comes to worst, you can hang out in one of the kennels.” You closed and locked the front door, heading for your car.

“Kennel?”

“Like a big cage but stacked for dogs and cats. You’ll see.”

Ug, it was already starting to get hot and humid out. It would probably rain later. You could practically feel your hair starting to frizz and your scrubs sticking to you. Today would be a great day to work. Inside. In the AC. Getting into the car and leaning over, you got Bob close enough to hop off your shoulder and take his usual position on the dashboard.

As you all drove, you opened two granola bars, handing one to Bob and munching on the other. It amazed you the amount of food he could eat. Like he could easily polish off a whole granola bar in one go if he tried. Small as he was.

Luckily, the traffic for the morning commute was light. You managed to get to work early. Though per usual, Gary had beaten you there. Well, Gary and Dr. Rivera probably. They usually commuted together on Mondays.

“Remember, be nice,” You reminded Bob.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. And no breaking stuff,” he assured you as he hopped over to your shoulder, being careful not to bump his leg. Odd, you noticed he didn’t feel overly warm like usual. You shrugged it off as Bitty weirdness.

Gary was double checking the till and credit card receipts as you opened the door.

“Morning Gary,” you greeted your manager.

Yeah, Gary insisted you call him by his first name. It was kind of weird for you at first, not calling your boss Mr., but you got used to it quickly enough. Gary was tall and lanky with sharp cheek bones, steel grey eyes and black hair with grey flecks. If one didn’t know better, he looked somewhat intimidating. That is, until he opened his mouth and spoke.

“Good morning sunshine!” Gary sang happily at you. “Oh!” He said as he noticed Bob. “Miguel told me you took one of those creatures home with you for the weekend! I thought you weren’t going to keep… why is it not in a cage or carrier?”

“Mornin. Gary, meet Bob. Bob, Gary. Gary’s the manager of this fine establishment. Bob is not a pet. He’s my new roommate.” You idly wondered how many times you would have to explain this situation to others.

“Oh! Well, aren’t you just the cutest?” Gary exclaimed, getting up so he could get a closer look.

“Uh…ok?” Bob said glancing over at you uncertainly as he leaned away from Gary’s face.

“How wonderful! He can talk! And it almost sounds like he understands what I’m saying!” Gary clapped his hands excitedly.

“Yup, he does. Is Dr. Rivera here?” You asked, reaching up to flick Bob’s good foot to cut off the growl he was starting.

“Indeed he is! Miguel’s in his office. Oh, he’ll be so tickled you decided to keep…er, Bob was it? Simply delighted!”

You turned on the computers and started the “wake-up cycle” on the blood machines on your way to the doctor’s office. Bob was fidgeting on your shoulder as you all approached. He was probably afraid after last time but whatever. He was the one who insisted on coming to work with you. He’d live.

Dr. Rivera was looking over blood work results sent to the lab from the previous day as you knocked on the door frame. He raised one of his eyebrows as he noticed Bob sitting on your shoulder. “Well, I take it plans have changed. Foster fail?”

“Actually, turns out Bob’s not a pet. And he needed a place to stay, so he’ll be staying with me for the time being. I figured you all should maybe meet again under better circumstances. Bob, Dr. Rivera. Dr. Rivera, Bob.” You introduced.

Bob and Dr. Rivera just stared each other down. Bob seemed tense and you could feel as he tightened his grip on your hair and shoulder.

“Bob. I see. Whatever you say,” Dr. Rivera said, taking off his glasses to clean them. “Is there a reason you brought him to work then? And why he’s not in a carrier?”

You glanced at Bob who was frowning at the doctor and still not saying anything. Ugh, no one was going to believe he wasn’t a pet if he kept being all quiet. “He didn’t want to stay home alone. He promised he’d be nice and stay out of the way. Right?” You said, again attempting to get him to talk.

Bob just grunted. Talking fail.

“Just make sure Bob doesn’t bite anyone or get into anything.” Dr. Rivera said, putting his glasses back on. “I really don’t feel like chasing him down. Speaking of chasing, how’s his leg doing?”

You looked at Bob to see if he’d answer the question. He didn’t. You sighed. “He says it itches.”

“He says? I see. Have you checked to make sure there’s no swelling or infection around his feet or toes?” Dr. Rivera asked.

Ah crap, you hadn’t been checking that! And you knew better. Though could bones really swell? They could get infected though. He was just made of bones, right? You glanced at Bob hoping he would provide some insight. He just kept watching the doctor warily, saying nothing.

“Well, we’ve got a little while before our first appointment.” Dr. Rivera was rolling back his chair to get up. “Let me get the bandage stuff out and I can…”

“No!” Bob finally spoke up, startling and cutting off Dr. Rivera’s train of thought. “The leg’s fine after all. Stay the hell away from me you fucking…!”

“Bob!” You admonished and he cringed, anxiousness and guilt flashing across his face as you scowled at him.

Dr. Rivera had paused, halfway out of his chair, looking rather surprised. After a few seconds, he settled on standing up and approaching. “Huh. So he can speak. Interesting.”

Dr. Rivera was studying Bob intently. Bob was scooting closer to your neck and you could feel him starting to tremble as he let out a quiet growl.

“Alright,” you said, taking pity on Bob and breaking the doctor’s intense concentration, “I’ll change his bandage on my own. It’ll be good practice for me anyway. I could show you afterward?”

“Fair enough,” Dr. Rivera said, relenting and backing off a little, getting the hint. “Um, er, sorry you’re so afraid of me,” he addressed Bob.

“I’m not.” Bob grunted and you side glanced at him. It looked like he wanted to say more but held back whatever it was.

Dr. Rivera laughed. “He really does understand speech, doesn’t he? Truly fascinating. And here I thought my future tech was just going a bit crazy.”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, doc,” You groaned and then had to flick Bob’s foot again to stop his growling.

You had about 15 minutes before the first appointment started. Mary had just arrived as you could hear from Gary’s enthusiastic “good morning” and questions about how Mary’s daughter was. Bob was watching as you gathered all of the bandaging material and set it on the back exam table.

“Sure you’re going to be ok with this?” You asked as you leaned down so Bob could slide off your shoulder onto the table.

“Yeah. Just keep that doctor away from me. I don’t like him,” he grumbled as he sat down facing you so you could reach his bandage. “And be careful, ok?” He added as he gingerly removed the boot from the foot of his bad leg.

“Oh, should I be careful? And here I was planning on just tearing the bandage off your leg as non-gently as possible.” You rolled your eyes at him as he narrowed his eyes at you. “And be nice to Dr. Rivera. I’ve worked with him for a long time. He’s not a bad guy.” You gently started to cut away the bandage with your tiny bandage scissors, noting that his toes looked clean and like normal foot bones you supposed. “Just tell me if any of this hurts.”

“Ok. Just so… OW!” He screamed, making you nearly drop the scissors.

“Shit! I’m sorry! Are you…” You started to say, but Bob was grinning widely.

“Hehehehe! Your face!” He nearly doubled over laughing, clutching his ribs and kicking his good leg.

You glared at him. “You moody little shit! Don’t joke around like that when I have sharp things in my hand or I’ll cut your damn foot off!” You finished cutting the bandage. Hm, the tibia looked intact and clear of infection. Miraculously, the bone hadn’t shifted and appeared to be on its way to healing. Considering he’d been running and jumping around on it all the time. You probably should have encouraged him to keep off of it.

“Heh, whatever. Cut it off. I’ll just grow another one.”

You paused in your assessment, meeting his bright little eye lights. “Y…you can grow limbs back?”

Bob gave you a serious look and nodded sagely… and then burst out laughing again. “No I can’t! Oh my god, you’re so gullible!”

“How the hell am I supposed to know about how your freakish moody mutant self works? Ugh, change your own bandage.” You pushed the bandaging material at him, starting to turn like you were going to leave.

“Aah! No! Tiny, wait! Heh, heh, why do you keep calling me moody? I’m just jokin’ around with ya! Be nice.” He went to stand but winced, his leg no longer supported by the splint.

“Uugh, fine. Sit down, you’re going to make your break worse. You’re moody because you keep varying between being quietly grouchy and then all cheerful at like the drop of a hat. And I don’t see why I always have to be nice to you. You’re not nice at all. Hold still.” You flicked his hands away from scratching at his bad leg as you started to wrap it.

“Yeah right you’re nice! The oh so nice person who threatened ta sell me and cut my foot off.” He grinned up at you again as you tried not to smile. It would just encourage him.

Suddenly both you and Bob noticed how quiet the office had become. You looked up and… yup. Great. Mary was leaning on the doorway with an eyebrow raised staring at you and Bob. Gary had a hand up to his mouth and was giggling over Mary’s shoulder. Dr. Rivera had stepped out of his office and was staring at the two of you with his brow furrowed. Bob seemed to shrink into himself as he folded his arms over his chest.

“Oh my! He’s like a tiny snarkier version of our future tech! How adorable!” Gary whisper-squeaked.

You sighed as you finished wrapping Bob’s leg and helped him up to your shoulder. “Ha ha, Gary,” you said sarcastically. “Alright, show’s over.”

You set Bob up in one of the kennels with a blanket, your phone (so he could surf the web) and one of the random animal magazines they had. He was going to be so bored, but that was his fault. You offered to leave him home. And yeah, he didn’t seem happy about having to spend the day in the kennel but didn’t say anything.

The day seemed to fly by. Mostly annual vaccines and checkups, typical seasonal allergies, and a dachshund with a hurt neck. You barely had time to eat your apple and sandwich and give Bob his half of apple and sandwich.

Poor Bob looked so bored. But he was keeping true to his promise of being good and not breaking stuff or being rude to anyone. Not that he really said anything to anyone after the bandage incident earlier. Hm, maybe he was shy?

Speaking of quiet, Dr. Rivera was being uncharacteristically quiet between appointments too and kept giving you these weird, worried glances. And he was totally ignoring your occasional snarcastic comments! You couldn’t get him to curse even once.

There was finally a little gap in between appointments at the end of the evening where you could corner Dr. Rivera in his office and find out what was up with him.

“Hey doc,” You said, knocking on the door frame as he was finally getting around to eating a little lunch (dinner?) while looking up something on the information network. “Everything ok?”

“Hm? Ah. Everything’s fine.” He didn’t look up from what he was reading.

“Ok. Except I don’t believe you. What’s with the quietness and weird looks? Seriously. What did I do now?”

Dr. Rivera sighed and pulled off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can’t I just get a little break to eat my lunch in peace?”

“I didn’t get a lunch break. I don’t see why you should get one. Tell me what’s up.”

“Alright, very well. It’s that not-pet Bitty of yours. It isn’t right. Something like him, should have never been created.” Dr. Rivera looked genuinely disturbed.

That’s what’s been bothering him? What the hell? What if Bob overheard him say that? You folded your arms, annoyed. “Well, he was created and he does exists. I don’t think it’s right to deny him his life just because you don’t think he’s right or whatever.”

“He’s technically not alive. Living things have certain characteristics they’re supposed to meet that he doesn’t. This is why Utaugen can treat Bitties like products instead of living things. This whole idea of a soul energy was theoretical science until just recently. Humans shouldn’t tamper with such things. I don’t know what he is, but he isn’t right. You need to be careful.” Dr. Rivera was looking at you seriously, worry creasing his brow as he cleaned his glasses. A nervous habit of his.

You took a few deep breaths before you spoke, your own habit that prevented you from blurting out things in anger. “Dr. Rivera. You know I respect the hell out of you. But you and I differ greatly on this particular topic. I think it’s best we don’t discuss it further and that you don’t ever bring up any of this in front of Bob.”

You just stared at each other calmly for a few seconds before Dr. Rivera let out another sigh and replaced his glasses. “Do me a favor and set up the ultrasound? We need to get urine on our last patient of the night and as you know, Gigi tends to pee when she gets nervous. Just walk her straight to the back when she gets here.”

Well, seemed the topic was dropped then. He knew you well enough to know when not to push you on certain things.

Of course, after setting everything up, Gigi never showed up. Per usual Mary left early to pick up her kid and you went to man the front desk the last halfhour of the evening. Well, at least you had time to finish all the closing duties. And yay for getting off on time! Bob had accompanied you while you swept and mopped and was currently on the floor looking through the brochures stacked behind the reception desk.

Ten minutes before closing, you groaned as a car pulled up and a man got out heading to the front door. Ugh, please just be coming to pick up medication.

Hm… you recognized that man. Then it dawned on you why.

You swallowed your dread, calmly saying, “Bob, get under the desk. Don’t say anything.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions? Comments? Generally Bored? Come hang out with me on [Tumblr](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com)


	7. Chapter 7: Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know, I know. Storm tropes. But you can rip this trope from my cold, dead hands! (No wait wait wait! I didn't mean it! I like my cold hands alive! ;;^-^)
> 
> Warnings: Cursing (should I even still have that warning at this point? ;P), PTSD-like reaction

“Bob, get under the desk. Don’t say anything.”

“Huh? Why?” He looked up at you, holding a brochure for flea prevention in his hands.

“Just do it!” You hissed as the door opened and you forced a smile at the man approaching.

Bob, catching your tone, scooted out of sight under the desk by your feet.

“Hello!” You chirped. “How can I help you this evening?”

The scruffy-looking man approached and leaned on the counter in front of you. He had a wicked looking scab on his left hand.

“Uh, yeah,” he said, clearing his throat. “I was here on Friday. I left…er, my pet here by accident. Was coming to get it back.”

Your eye twitched but you struggled to maintain your professionally cheerful persona. “I’m sorry sir. But you surrendered him to us and left.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say surrender… Look. I didn’t know it was worth money. I saw a special on it on TV last night. So I’d really like to get that Edgy Bitty back.”

“I’m sorry sir. I’m afraid he was brought to a shelter.” Not technically a lie. You were sheltering him, weren’t you?

He narrowed his eyes at you, leaning closer as you leaned back. “Brought to a shelter, eh? Don’t think I believe ya. I reckon you sold it yourself and kept the money. Awful selfish of ya. You know, I’ve got a family that could really use that money. The way I see it, you stole from me and my kids and I ain’t leaving until I get what’s mine!” He was raising his voice as he spoke.

Shit, you sucked at confrontations. But there was no way you were handing Bob over to him!

You heard a small growl and had to tap Bob with your foot. Shit, that man would hear him! But no, luckily, seemed the man hadn’t heard the growl.

“I’m sorry sir, but you surrendered him and I can’t give him back,” you repeated, squaring your shoulders.

“Listen here, you little b..!”

“Can I help you sir?” Gary said, interrupting the man’s tirade as he emerged from his office.

Oh thank god, Gary to the rescue! He was walking up behind you, frowning down at the man in front of you. Gary really could be intimidating when he wanted to be.

“Your receptionist stole my pet on Friday and sold him and I want my money!” He barked, red-faced, and motioning angrily at you.

Gary looked down at you as you looked up at him. “Did you steal this man’s pet and then sell it?”

“N-no, sir. This gentleman left an Edgy Bitty in a jar on the desk on Friday and then left.” You could feel Bob gripping your scrub pant leg under the table.

Gary looked back down at the man sternly. “Well, sir. It sounds like your accusation of my employee is false. If you don’t have any further business here, please leave.”

The man balked and opened his mouth like he was going to argue when you heard Dr. Rivera speak up from the back hallway. “Sir, I believe my manager asked you to leave. Please do so.”

The man glared icily at all of you and stormed out, slamming the front door behind him. You let out a long breath, rubbing your face.

Gary put an arm around you, hugging you to his side. “Don’t worry pumpkin, we’ve got your back. I won’t let entitled little dickwaffles like that threaten my hospital family.” He looked back at Dr. Rivera, smiling.

As soon as the “dickwaffle’s” headlights turned out of the parking lot, you reached down and scooped Bob into your hands to place him on your shoulder. He patted your shoulder briefly and looked away guiltily as you glanced at him.

“Even so,” Dr. Rivera said as he leaned against the wall. “I think it’s best if from now on Bob stays at home. It would be safer for both you and him.”

You frowned but said nothing. The doc was probably right. It wasn’t fair, but who knows what would happen if that man came back or some other shady client saw Bob at the hospital? Bob just looked down dejectedly and said nothing.

***

Bob was quiet on the ride home, staring through the front windshield as it started raining. Giant intermittent splatters that your wipers smeared as you pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Ugh, you really needed to get new wiper blades. You squinted at the hazy shapes of headlights and taillights as you drove.

Seemed Bob was lost in thought as he just stared at the rain hitting the windshield, his bone brow furrowed, hugging his good knee to his chest. He flinched each time there was a flash of lightning.

Poor Bob. The whole world viewed him as property. And defective property at that. You couldn’t even imagine what that was like.

“You know,” you broke the silence as you all approached the apartment, “since you’ve been riding up there, I’m getting tiny little butt prints all over my dashboard.”

Bob actually smirked at that, the corners of his mouth stretching up a little. Hah, at least you could make him smile. “Wasn’t me. I don’t have a butt.”

“Fine,” you rolled your eyes. “Tiny creepy skeleton prints from your bony self.”

“Well, wouldn’t be an issue if ya actually cleaned your dashboard once in a while. I’ve been meaning to tell ya, your car is gross.”

“You’re gross,” you shot back. Clever comeback for the win.

“You’re the grossest,” Bob half-heartedly argued back. He continued to stare through the windshield as you pulled into the parking spot in front of the apartment.

“Hah, alright, enough with the mushy banter bullshit. Let’s get inside before it starts raining any harder. Ah crap, left my umbrella in the apartment. Hm… your splint. I could carry you in my scrub pocket?”

Bob grinned. “‘Enough of the mushy bullshit,’” he changed his voice in a sad attempt to imitate you, “you say as in the same breath ya offer to shelter me from the rain. You totally fail at being a jerk.”

“Ugh, says the little wannabe edgelord who gets all doe-eyed every time I say something nice to him.” You held out your hand to him. He scoffed but climbed up anyway.

Well, at least your plan worked and Bob stayed dry. You, on the other hand, were soaked. Time to change into some dry pajamas. The comfy cat patterned ones. Ah yeah!

Bob sat on the couch turning on the TV and shooting nervous glances to the window now and again as you kicked off your shoes by the coffee table. He jumped a little when your shoe hit the table and tried to play it off like he was reaching up to scratch his chin. Eh, maybe he hadn’t ever seen rain before? You mentally shrugged it off as you made your way to your room.

As you changed out of your wet dog-smelling scrubs, you saw a flash and heard the distant sound of thunder. Hm. Last thunderstorm had only been a few days ago. Seemed the summer thunderstorm season was off to a strong start. Not that you hated thunderstorms. Au contraire, you loved them! Hearing the rain pound against the windows, seeing the flashes of light followed by the loud crackle. It reminded you that humans couldn’t control everything. That nature could still assert itself and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could do to stop it!

There was a loud boom, and the power went out. Well. Maybe nature could tone back the asserting just a little.

You heard a cry and then what sounded like clattering and cursing coming from the den. What the hell?

 

**********Bob’s POV**********

It’s just a storm. Bob tried to focus on whatever was playing on TV.

Just a storm. He knew what a storm was. Hell, the first storm he had ever experienced, he had been outside in it. But at that time…

No, he didn’t want to think about that time.

He turned up the volume, trying to focus on whatever mindless show was on. But each crack of thunder had him glancing at the windows.

He couldn’t help it. The rumble and flashes of light… they reminded him of those machines. Of where he’d end up eventually if…

No. That wouldn’t happen. Tiny wouldn’t do that…

You said you wanted him around. Hell, you didn’t even make a big deal of it when he had been scared to be left alone.

Scratch that. Not scared. Eh… he had strongly preferred not to be left alone. That’s all. Not like he was a coward or anything.

Geez, the storm was getting rough out there. What was taking you so long?

Yeah, ok. So maybe he didn’t wanna be alone right now. Maybe you were good company. Maybe you were growing on him or something.

But wouldn’t ya eventually get sick of him? You clearly didn’t see him as a pet. What could he even do for ya? What was his purpose in staying with you? You were smart. Funny. Independent. And Bob had been nothing but a burden thus far. Why did ya even need him around?

You didn’t.

The rain picked up and the sound of thunder followed the flashes of lightning more closely. He shuddered.

And he couldn’t stop the memories from flooding back. Screams. The smell of ozone. Dust. So much dust. Being trapped…

A flash of light and everything went dark.

No! He wouldn’t go back to that place!

He was running, ignoring the pain in his broken leg. Then falling, something having snagged his good foot. Fuck! He was trapped! Again! He had to escape! He didn’t want to die!


	8. Chapter 8: Emotional Junk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Labor Day to those that celebrate it! (Totally didn't forget what holiday it was and have to look it up ^~^;;) Hope you workers enjoy your day off (if ya get one, otherwise, hope work isn't too bad) and you students enjoy your day off too! Have a good week!

You looked out and in the flash of lightning saw Bob completely freaking out as he struggled to free his good leg which had become trapped in the laces of one of your shoes. His eyes were tiny pinpricks of light and he was panting and scrabbling at the shoelace completely wrapped around his foot. Another flash of light and boom had him growling and biting at the laces.

“Hey! Bob! Stop!” You rushed over, reaching over to untangle his leg. But he whipped around and bit you. Hard.

“Ow! Dammit!” You screamed, covering the bite on your right hand with your left as Bob went back to trying to jerk his leg free and bite at the shoelaces again.

Dammit that hurt! And it felt like it was bleeding. But shit, you didn’t have time to worry about that! At the rate he was going, if he didn’t calm down, he was going to break his other leg!

Thinking fast, you grabbed the blanket off the couch and threw it over Bob who screamed and snarled and struggled to fling it off. Through the blanket, you managed to wrap your hand around his torso and use the other hand to pull the blanked back away from his face so he could breathe.

“Calm down,” you told him, realizing immediately afterward that telling a panicked person to calm down is essentially useless.

Through the flashes of lightning you could see his eye sockets screwed shut and his teeth grit tightly on the blanket as he struggled to push you off of him. He was hyperventilating. Dammit, and your hand was dripping blood. But you had to deal with Bob first.

“It’s ok! Easy! Easy. I’m going to unwrap your foot but you’ve got to stop kicking. Stop it!” He froze briefly enough for you to feel down in the dark to where his foot had become entrapped in the very top lace of your shoe. It was twisted around his foot. You carefully lifted the shoe and spun it around (by some miracle, you spun it the correct direction) to untwist the lace as he jerked his foot free. “There! Ok. You’re ok. It’s fine.”

Bob was still breathing unevenly but he had stopped struggling. He was shaking.

“You ok now?”

The space between you all was once again lit by his tiny red glowing eye lights. You used the other end of the blanket to hold over your wound. Peroxide would take care of the blood stain later.

“W…what the f-fuck do… do you th-think?” He stammered at you through hiccuping breaths.

You froze. Oh no. Shit. He was trembling and sniffling. Shit. You slowly freed him from the blanket, bracing yourself in case he tried to lash out again. He didn’t. Carefully, you set him down on the couch beside you. The dim red lights from his eyes were blotted out now and again as he rubbed at them, his tiny fists rattling against his eye sockets.  He was looking away from your face as you sat there uselessly. After a while, he slid off the cushion to go crawl under the couch. You could hear him sniffling between the sounds of thunder.

Shit, was he crying? Oh man, this was not your area of expertise. You were garbage at consoling others.

Gary and Dr. Rivera once had a fight a while back and Gary was alone crying in the office. You had stumbled upon him and had just stood there awkwardly at a loss for what to do or say at that time.

Though Bob wasn’t exactly human, was he? And the sad little noises he was making… ugh, you had to do something! At least try! Even if you messed up or he freaked out and bit you again. The room was lit up by a bright flash again followed by the booming of thunder. You could hear Bob crying quietly under the couch. God dammit.

Tentatively, you lowered yourself to the floor so you could lay next to the couch and peek under it. You could see the trembling outline of Bob’s back facing you as the red glow from his eyes lit up the space somewhat around him. Slowly, you reached out a finger and kind of awkwardly rested it along his scapulas. He tensed at first, but then slowly relaxed, letting out a shaky sigh. Ok. He leaned forward letting you gently sort of pat his back with your finger. Ok. This was ok. Kind of awkward, but ok. And it seemed to be helping… maybe?

After a while, his breathing evened out and he only gave a slight jump when there was thunder. Through the flashes of lightning you could see that it looked like your hand had stopped bleeding. Also, luckily, it seemed the storm was a quick moving one as the flashes of lightning were coming less and less frequently. It even sounded like the rain was starting to let up.

Bob mumbled something.

“Hm?” You asked.

Tiny red pupils turned to face you as you dropped your hand allowing him to turn toward you. Bob looked at you as you rested your head on your other hand, peering under the sofa.

“I said why?” He said.

“What?” What was he talking about?

“Why… why are you doing this?” He sounded completely at a loss.

“Um…I thought maybe it would help? …Should I not?” Were you making him uncomfortable?

“No.”

Oh. Ugh, you really were crap at consoling others. You started to move your hand away but he stopped you, grabbing your finger with both hands. “No…no wait! No as in…I mean, this is fine.”

“Ok…?” So what exactly was he asking? Now you were really confused.

He gave a frustrated sigh as he held your finger, staring down at your hand.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You tried.

“My thoughts are worth more than that. I think the number was $10,000,” he mumbled.

“Nope. I told you, at least double that,” you said, earning a small watery laugh from him. At least he was starting to sound more like himself again.

He turned his head to the side, the light from his eyes casting shadows under the couch. “Yeah… but I’m getting the impression you probably wouldn’t even sell me for that. I’m not sure why though. Why you’re bein' so nice to me…after I just cause ya trouble. That’s all I’ve managed to do since ya took me in…”

Ah, so that’s what he meant. Ah geez. Did you really have to spell it out for him? “Certainly not because I care about you or anything.”

There was another pause as light filled the room briefly followed several seconds later by distant rumbling.

“But it doesn’t make any sense….” He continued. “I can’t do anything but be a burden to ya. Ever since ya kinda got stuck with me, I’ve done nothing but make your life more difficult. I broke your stuff. Got ya yelled at at work. Argh, I even bit you! Your hand…” His little eye lights focused on your hand as he reached for the bite wound with one of his hands but hesitated. He was getting upset again.

“My hand is fine. Look… I’m crap at all this emotional junk… You’re not a burden to me. I don’t… I don’t have a lot of friends. Pretty much just the people I work with. It’s selfish… but I guess I don’t hate the fact that you live here? …Ugh, I… I don’t dislike you ok? Maybe having you around is not terrible or something.”

Out of the corner of your eye (since you couldn’t really make eye contact at that point), you saw two bright red lights focus toward your face before darting away. In a quiet voice, he muttered, “I’m… I kind of don’t dislike living with you either… and I um… I guess you’re ok too.” He briefly gave your finger a squeeze as he kept holding it.

Some awkward silence passed between the two of you before you let out a laugh.

“Pfft, did we just have a moment?”

“Shut up,” he grumbled, hugging your finger to himself and burying his face into your knuckle.

Hah, he was definitely feeling warmer again. Seemed his moods had an affect his temperature. And you were finding out he was a total softie. Unlike you. Of course.

You reached out with your other hand and rubbed at the top of his skull, causing him to grumble into your knuckle. He didn’t sound convincingly upset.

  
*********Bob’s POV**********  
Bob sat on your chest, watching your face as you slept. The power had come back on shortly after you passed out on the couch. He had already found you a bandaid and had turned out the lights. Luckily, it seemed he had enough weight and momentum that when he launched himself at the switches, he managed to shut them off. Even with only one good leg. He was pretty thankful you hadn’t woken up to see that, as you probably would have laughed at him.

He was also thankful you were a heavy sleeper. Guess he wouldn’t have to use the bullshit excuse that he was sitting on you to wake ya up so he could have his bed back. Truth was, he just wanted to be close to you. You made him feel… warm. Safe. ‘Emotional junk’ as you called it. Heh. He smiled as you started to snore lightly. Heh.

He could read between the lines from what you said earlier. You liked him. Considered him a friend. Was glad he was living with you.

Basically felt the same way he did about you. And he really did like you. You were the first… the only human he liked.

Argh, ‘emotional junk.’ You were turning him into a sap of a skeleton that got attached too quickly.

Argh. He’d make sure to move off of ya before ya woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions? Comments? Generally Bored? Come hang out with me on [Tumblr](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com)


	9. Chapter 9: Sharing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely too early to be awake. *grumble grumble* At least it's Friday! Hope all you lovely people have a great weekend!
> 
> PS: Thank you all so much for all the kudos and comments and hits! I am truly honored! You all seriously made my week!

You woke up before your phone alarm went off. Seemed you had fallen asleep on the couch. The den was dimly lit by the approaching dawn. You yawned. Too early. Way too early. Hm, seemed Bob had found a bandaid at some point as you now had one covering the wound on your hand. Ugh, you probably should have washed that the previous night. Oh well. You’d had worse bites from your patients at work (and the wicked scars on your arms to prove it).

The aforementioned Bitty was sound asleep face-down on your chest, his hands loosely clung in your pajama shirt. Ah man, you didn’t know how you felt about that. On the one hand, he was pretty adorable, making little almost snoring sounds while he slept. Why was he even snoring if he didn’t have the anatomy for it? So cute. On the other hand… essentially your tiny roommate had fallen asleep on you. Which was kind of weird to think about. Hm, best not to.

You stretched a little, pushing your hair out of your face and doing your best not to move too much least you wake Bob. The hum of the AC let you know the power had come back on at some point during the night. Funny the light wasn’t on. Had Bob turned it off when he went to get the bandaid? And then just fell asleep on you? Strange little guy.

Stretching more, you reached down and grabbed your phone, hitting the side button to check the time. Definitely too early to be awake. Bob stirred, and you glanced down at him as he frowned a little and tightened his grip on your pajama shirt before making little snoring sounds again.

Poor guy. He even frowned in his sleep. Guess he did have quite a bit to frown about. Add storm phobia to his list of things that upset him. You know, besides the whole genocide thing by the company that made him. That and apparently being trapped kind of made him panic. You’d seen it twice now: once when he was being restrained at the vet hospital and then again during the storm. Plus he worried about being a burden… being alone… hm. Some of those feelings were quite relatable. You really wished he would just talk about these things with you instead of you having to figure it out on your own. You really were crap at all that. Well, not that you couldn’t figure stuff out. Eventually. If you tried.

Anyway, ok, first problem. You had to work and it was decided that work wasn’t safe for Bob. But he didn’t want to be alone in the apartment. Probably part of him was afraid of being trapped there if something were to happen to you or the apartment were to catch on fire or something. Hm, you might have an idea on how to solve that issue.

“Ya know ya mumble things out loud when you’re thinking sometimes?” A sleepy voice said from your chest.

Well, someone was awake now. “Did you know sleeping on your roommate is kind of weird and creepy?” You looked down at him, amused.

He blinked at you, seemingly becoming aware of his surroundings. His eye sockets widened and his face took on a bit of a red hue. “Uh… you… uh… you’re the one who fell asleep on my bed! So, um…not my fault you take up so much room and… um…. You know what? Fuck it. I’m goin’ back to sleep. Deal with it.”

He was frowning and blushing profusely now but made a show of stretching and getting more comfortable, turning on his side facing away from you, still on your chest. Pfft. So he wasn’t planning on moving off?

Eh. You mentally shrugged, yawning again. His warmth and eventual snores started coaxing you back to sleep.

It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when your phone alarm started going off. You and Bob groaned simultaneously as you reached over to silence the accursed thing.

“Alright you little creeper, move. I’ve gotta get up,” You sighed as you started to sit up.

“Mph, noo! Five more minutes…” He grumbled and then whined when you ignored his protests. Sitting up, you carefully peeled him off your chest to hold in your hand. He reached up to rub at his eye sockets, glaring at you.

“I don’t know what you’re so grumpy about. You can just go back to sleep if you want. I’ve gotta work.” You set him down on the couch as he straightened his twisted shirt.

“Yeah, but I was comfy. You’re comfy,” he mumbled after you as you went to go shower and change.

After finishing your morning routine and changing into your oh-so-flattering scrubs, you went out to find Bob in the kitchen gritting his teeth and straining to open the fridge. Well, at least it looked like he hadn’t hurt his good foot in the shoelace incident. As a matter of fact… he was putting weight on his bad leg now. And not wincing. Huh.

And he hadn’t noticed you yet as he continued to struggle with the door. You cleared your throat. Still didn’t notice. “Bob, is there a reason you’re…”

He squeaked, like actually squeaked, and stumbled, almost falling backwards. You would have laughed had you not thought about the fact that he was probably still a little jumpy from the previous night. That and he now looked super embarrassed, blushing and scratching at the back of his neck as he looked at the ground.

“Uh… I um… I thought… maybe I could try to make us breakfast? Heh, guess that didn’t really work out…”

Aw. “That… was really nice of you to try. But really, you don’t have to do stuff like that.” You opened the fridge, getting out some apples and the last of the bread to make some toast. Not that there were many breakfast options. Gah, next paycheck couldn’t come soon enough.

He did his dash/blur thing up to the counter and sat down, watching sadly as you cut up apples. “I wanted to help,” he pouted. “You know, do something useful…”

“You are helpful! Thanks for the bandaid and for turning off the light last night! That really was helpful.” You smiled at him.

He frowned, crossing his arms. “Don’t patronize me. I was anything but helpful last night and you know it!”

You sighed, setting cut-up apple squares on a napkin beside him while you plated your own apple slices (and moved your plate well out of reach of Bob). “Wanna talk about last night?”

He paused, fiddling with an apple square before it disappeared into his mouth. “No.”

Oh well, it was worth a try. “Alright. Then let’s talk about today. Before I go to work, I’m going to set you up with an account that’ll let you send messages to my phone from the computer. That way, you can reach me right away if you need me. If you want, I can leave the back bedroom window cracked open just enough in case you need to get out for any reason? The little lock thingeys should keep any burglars or whatever from opening the window all the way and getting in…”

He was looking downright dejected now, ignoring the rest of his breakfast. The toast popped up, making him jump. Was he really going to be ok on his own today? You must have been giving him an uncertain look because he looked up at you, sighing, “I’ll be fine. Seriously. Don’t worry about it. Go. Work.”

Well, what choice did you have really?

***

The first day you left Bob at home, he did message you soon after you got to work and you responded as promised.

Over the next few days he was getting more and more talkative in his messages. Seemed he was adjusting to the fact that he would be ok on his own and you would come back. Or whatever his deal was.

You were starting to see that he was maybe a bit clingy. You pretended not to notice when he snuck into your room at night and slept on your pillow next to your head. And then left just before your alarm went off. A little creepy maybe, but it seemed to make him feel better.

As a matter of fact, he was now actually walking on his previously broken leg and had taken the splint off. Odd it had healed so quickly in just the last week. Maybe he was serious when he said he just needed food and rest to heal? Though the food they had been eating lately, ugh, ramen can hardly be called food. At least he seemed to like the addition of mustard to his, gross as that was.

Curious, you read up a little on Bitty metabolism. Well… you read what little bit existed on it anyway. No one was quite sure how Bitties functioned, seeing as most sources considered them artificial lifeforms. Seemed that while they could heal their bones, they didn’t have blood or a circulatory system. Their bone cells derived energy from their soul. And the stronger their soul, the faster they healed. Essentially, Bitties’ bones were hollow save for their glowing soul energy. In fact, their glowing eyes literally glowed because of them being full of soul energy. Seemed they could turn to dust if injured and too much soul energy leaked out of their bodies. Geez, Bob was lucky the crack in his tibia must not have been bad enough to leak soul energy. Or maybe it had and had stopped before he was brought to you? Ugh, he was also lucky it hadn’t gotten worse with all his running and jumping around.

Work was exceedingly slow and boring on Friday. The two cat neuter surgeries went by quickly and appointments didn’t start until one. And Dr. Rivera didn’t need help making callbacks and catching up on his chart notes. Giving you plenty of time to do inventory stuff and restocking. Though you really didn’t need like two hours to do all that…

Hm, you hadn’t heard from Bob yet. That had to be a good thing, right? That meant he was finally finding things to entertain himself, right? You turned off the screen of your phone, stuffing it in your pocket. No, you wouldn’t be that worrying friend and message him just to make sure he was ok. If he needed you, he knew how to contact you.

About fifteen minutes later, you conceded the fact that you were that worrying friend as you hit “send” on the message from your phone. Whatever. Maybe he’d see it later and laugh at you or something? At least he’d be happy.

You: How’s it going? Not destroying things I hope.

You got a response within like a minute.

Bob: Well, I’ve only burned half the apartment down so don’t worry! Not like it made much of a difference anyway, crappy as your apartment is! Do you even ever clean? It’s as bad as your car!

Smirking, you sent your response right away too.

You: …Were you just sitting at the computer waiting for me to message you?

Several minutes passed. You went to restock the syringes in the drawers. You felt your phone vibrate.

Bob: Yeah right.

Just as you read that message, another one showed up.

Bob: Like I don’t have anything better to do.

…And another.

Bob: I do. I’m cleaning. Right after I send this message. Well, that and I might finish this thing I’m reading…

You: Thing you’re reading?

Bob: Heh, yeah. So I went through your browser history and found these stories you’ve been reading about the characters in your games and got curious.

…oh no.

You: ……

Bob: I was kinda confused at first, because I didn’t remember stuff like THAT goin’ on in that fighting game you’re always playing…

You: Oh god dammit…

Bob: Heh heh. Though I gotta say. I can see the entertainment value. There’s some pretty interesting dialogue here…

You: Bob. No. Don’t.

Bob: “As the sun set over the mountain, she gently uppercutted his face, sending forth a sweaty spray that sparkled like so many stars in the fading orange light.”

You: OH MY GOD!!! STOP!!!

Bob: Heh heh heh, alright, fine. I had a joke about this, but I doubt you’d get the punch line.

You: …Seriously? Was that a pun?

Bob: Nah. No way. I don’t do puns. I kicked that habit a while ago.

You: …Do you want me to come fight you when I get home?

Bob: YES!!! COME FIGHT ME!!!

You shook your head as you put your phone away. Ugggh. You really should go clear your browser history. Not that you were embarrassed by the stories you read! There was some pretty good stuff out there! Just… maybe you didn’t want to share EVERYTHING with your roommate…

Sigh. This was your life now. Privacy gone. Replaced by a tiny, snooping, creeper, edgelord skeleton. Geez, why were you smiling?


	10. Chapter 10: Rubber Band

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting a chapter. Then sleeping. Have a good night all!
> 
> Oh, fun thing to do: type "askew" into the Google search bar. Haha, you all probably already knew about those wacky things Google does but it amused me to no end! ...maybe I just need more sleep.

Two laceration repairs, a cat abscess, an aggressive dalmatian that needed a nail trim, and 5 overly talkative annual vaccine appointments later, it was finally time to go home. Dr. Rivera barely grunted a ‘goodnight’ at you as you left. His glasses were even askew and he wasn’t bothering to fix them as he typed. Gary had gone out to get them some Chinese food for dinner, knowing they’d both probably be there late as Dr. Rivera caught up on his chart notes for the day.

Needless to say, you were exhausted by the time you dragged yourself from your car to your front door.

Hey, on the bright side, you got paid.

Oddly, when you opened door, Bob wasn’t there waiting to comment on your “trashy” appearance or “dog smell” per usual. Was he sleeping? You were getting home kind of late that night. Was he maybe mad at you for getting home so late?

“Hey Bob, I’m home,” you called out as you set your bag down. Silence. Where was that little creeper?

As you rounded the couch it hit you. No, like something literally hit you. In the shoulder. What the hell was that…wet toilet paper? What the…another wad hit you in the face followed by peals of evil high-pitched laughter coming from under the coffee table. Gross! You peeled it off your face to glare down at the source of the assault.

Seriously, what the hell was he thinking? You had been at work. All day. You were tired. And you come home to this? Bob had linked several rubber bands together and wrapped them around the coffee table legs (where did he even find so many rubber bands?!) and was using the device as a wet toilet paper slingshot. He grinned evilly as he braced himself, leaning back to let another toilet paper wad fly. Oh hell no! You dodged that one and it hit the side wall with a sickening splat.

“Bob, what the hell?!” You squawked as you stepped to the side, out of range of his makeshift slingshot. He hesitated briefly, before jumping to the side facing you. Too late you noticed he had made slingshots in all four corners of the coffee table. And dang, he was a quick draw! This wet paper wad hit you in the neck.

“I’m totally winning this fight! Hehehe! Tiny, you suck!” He was already loading another shot from his tupperware container of wet toilet paper and water, completely oblivious to your irritation.

Geez, how did he even move a full container of water around that was bigger than him? And fight? …Oh. Oh right. You did say you’d fight him, didn’t you? You sighed as he continued to giggle manically and shot another toilet paper wad that missed you but hit and almost knocked over a lamp. He really did look like he was so pleased with himself. Ah man. You couldn’t ruin his fun. Besides, you had to hand it to him…his little setup was pretty clever. You shook your head, fighting a smile as you reached to grab him before he could load up another shot. He blurred out of the way at the last second.

“Too slow! Heh, ya giant human sloth! You’re no match for my quick…sh-shit!”

Too bad he underestimated your literal YEARS of practice cornering and quickly catching little critters trying to escape. Moving quickly, you snatched him up only to have him literally slip out of your grasp. Oh my god! He was like, covered in slime or something! Ugh! Why??? He laughed again, distancing himself from you as you probably made a horrified face, almost wiping your hand on your pants but no, that would probably be a bear to get out! What the hell was it even? So you were left floundering with your hand held out in front of you while Bob retook his position, firing more wet wads at you.

“Bob! Seriously?! What the hell??!!” You complained as you were once again bombarded with sloppy wet projectiles.

“Admit defeat!” He yelled after you as you retreated to the kitchen to find something to wipe your hand off. Of course Bob had hidden the paper towels.

“Admit it. I won!” He called from behind you as you went to wash your hand in the sink.

Ugh, it wasn’t washing off! Was this oil? Great…the soap was hidden too. And double great, now you had oil and water on both hands, no soap, and no towels. Ugh, you didn’t want to wipe your hands on your scrubs.

“What the hell is this stuff?” You shot a glare to Bob who was standing and grinning and yeah, you now noticed was covered in something clear…

“Vegetable oil.” He wiped his forehead as some dripped down his skull.

“That…that was probably a bad call. How the hell are you going to get that stuff off of you and your clothes? Where are the paper towels and soap?”

“Admit ya lost.” He smirked as he folded his arms.

“Fine. You win. Now tell me where…”

“Under the sink.” He answered smugly, grinning widely.

Of course. You cleaned and dried your hands as Bob continued to silently gloat over his victory. Though he was maybe starting to notice his predicament since he couldn’t really sit or touch anything. At least it seemed like he was being careful not to. Geez, how long had he stood around covered in oil waiting for you to get home? The thought made you laugh.

“What?” he barked, now frowning a little. Haha, right. You were probably supposed to be pouting over your loss to the mighty Bob or something.

“You should probably go take a shower. Seriously, how are we going to get that oil out of your clothes? And there’s little greasy footprints all over the carpet!”

“Worth it! Heheh, you shoulda seen your face!”

“Ugh, whatever. Go shower before you get oil everywhere!”

***  
An hour later, you were sitting on the couch watching some cheesy horror flick as you finally heard the sink cut off in the bathroom. Yeah, he had figured out how to use the sink as a shower. And though you worried, he insisted the water stream wasn’t too strong for him and he wouldn’t drown. And he was too big to fit down the drain. Of course he turned down any help you offered to at least turn on the spout for him.

He emerged in fresh clothes, rubbing at his skull with a washcloth and frowning. Pfft, his skull was still looking a little…shiny.

“Ok…so maybe oil was a bad idea…” He grumbled and you covered your mouth, trying to stifle your laughter. He glared at you. “Shut up.”

“Idiot,” you continued to laugh.

He grumbled at you some more as he climbed onto the sofa but his grumbles were replaced by a happy sound as you handed him his ‘bowl’ (a half-cut Dixie cup) of beans, rice, and mustard. Haha, he always seemed to immediately cheer up when he ate. You liked seeing him happy.

“Though I admit, you got me. Definitely wasn’t expecting all that with the projectiles and oil,” you said as he hummed happily, eating his food.

“And besides the wet toilet paper and rubber bands I had to clean up, the apartment looks really nice. Good job cleaning!” You praised as you surveyed his… ‘cleaning.’ There were a few circular streaks in the corner of the television, the table had some dust and crumbs pushed to one side of it… Well. He tried. And he was so proud of himself.

He was practically glowing (and no, not just because of the oil) as he smiled and hummed again. Suddenly, he paused mid-bite, his face scrunched in confusion. “Wait a minute…” He narrowed his eye sockets at you. “You’re being too nice. What gives? What’d ya do?”

Hah, whoops. He was right. You couldn’t be too nice to him. You had to maintain your image, after all. He was staring at you with that blank expression of his again, waiting to see what you’d say.

You blurted out the first thing you thought of. “I spit in your food.”

You all stared at each other for a few more seconds. Then, while maintaining eye contact, he reached into his bowl, grabbed some food, and shoved it into his mouth.

You wrinkled your nose at him. “Ugh, what if I really had? You’re gross.”

He chuckled and shrugged. “Eh. I’ve already eaten some anyway. And I’m still alive… guess you’re not as venomous as ya thought, huh?” He smiled up at you, then went back to eating and watching the movie where some dude was being dragged under the bed screaming. Bob laughed gleefully as blood spewed up from under the mattress amid gurgling screams.

Psh, Not venomous. Whatever. You caught his double meaning. Let him figure out you… could maybe be kind of a softie. Sometimes. He’d probably already figured it out anyway. Just like you’d figured out he was a clingy sap. Ugh, whatever.

Your phone cried out it’s dying beep so you got up to go connect it to its charger in your room. You stopped short as you neared your nightstand.

The top drawer was cracked open.

That top drawer where you kept your journal…

The thing you poured all of your negative thoughts and feelings into, to be closed away. Forgotten. It had to stay closed away. This was how you functioned. If he read that, he’d know stuff you didn’t want anyone to know. Ever. Stuff you wanted to forget about. That mask you so carefully created of a strong, good, ’got-it-together,’ functioning adult would slip. You stood, taking a deep breath to calm yourself.

Bob must have noticed. “Hey, everything ok?” He called from the couch.

You didn’t respond. You couldn’t. Had he read it? He hadn’t, right? He was still treating you like he always did. Deep breaths.

“Hey…uh, Tiny?” He hopped off the couch, tentatively approaching you. “You’re uh, kinda quiet all of a sudden…”

“Bob,” you said trying to keep your voice even. “Did you read my journal?”

He must have sensed your mood as he tensed. “No… No. No, I didn’t! I mean, I saw it in there…but I didn’t read it! I was just looking for more rubber bands! I swear!” He was starting to sound a little nervous.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out, slowly. Ok. He hadn’t. He didn’t know. Had you ever told him he couldn’t read it? You knew he snooped in your stuff.

“Stay out of that drawer. Don’t open it again. Ever. I’m not joking. Understand?”

“Y-yes. I won’t,” he swallowed (at least that’s what it looked like) and replied shakily.

Another deep breath. Ok. Ok. No harm done… Ah, geez. Bob was frozen in place, staring at you with small pupils and sweating. What kind of face had you been making?

“I’m sorry,” you sighed, rubbing at your face, like you could rub away whatever expression you had been giving him. You offered him a smile and he relaxed a little, his eye lights returning to their usual size. “We should probably get some sleep. Maybe we could go do something fun tomorrow since I’m off work? Get out of the apartment?”

“Y-yeah…yeah. It’s cool… That would be cool. Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his skull. “I’ll uh…see ya tomorrow then. Gonna head over to my blanket… on the couch… g’nite.”

“Nite,” you said, smiling as pleasantly as you could as he awkwardly shuffled away from the door you were holding. You closed it as soon as he was clear. Really not feeling like having him sleep on your pillow that night.


	11. Chapter 11: Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hard to believe Undertale is already a year old! This game has had a profound impact on me and my hobbies (as I'm sure it has all of you all too)! ^-^ Hope you all are having a lovely day!
> 
> (PS: Sorry in advance for this chapter ^~^;;)

You were awoken abruptly by your room door rattling. Ugh, it was like 6 in the morning! On a Saturday! Blearily, you got up and opened your door to find Bob standing there breathless and sweating, his eyes tiny pinpricks that darted between you and the front room.

Your glare quickly melted away into a look of concern. “Hey, what’s wrong? You ok?”

“There’s… there’s someone outside… who’s been tryin’ ta get in! I’ve seen him peering in the window and he tried the door twice! I’m sorry I woke ya up…I didn’t know what else to do!”

Ah shit. Was someone trying to break in? Wouldn’t be the first time there was a break-in at your apartment complex.

You jumped as a face appeared in your front window, hands cupped around to peer inside the apartment. Bob growled and placed himself between you and the front window, trying to look as big as possible. You went to scoop him up until…wait. You recognized that person. You groaned, rubbing a hand down the front of your face.

“God dammit,” you grumbled.

“Who is he? Seems like you recognize him. What does he want?” Bob was still tense, glancing between you and the window.

“No one you need to worry about. I’ve got this. Please stay out of sight.”

He hesitated but backed down as you stepped over him to go unlock the door.

Sure enough, you opened the door to find a familiar face standing there. His hands were shaky as he scratched at his arm, smiling down at you with yellowed teeth. He had deep bags under his eyes and his hair was greasy and hung in his face. Great. You’d be willing to bet he was using again.

“Hey child of mine! Long time no…” He started, but you cut him off.

“How did you find me?” You asked coldly, folding your arms in front of you and blocking the path inside your apartment. You could tell he wanted to be invited in. That wasn’t happening.

“Aw, is that any way to address your father? And here I came to visit you.” He pouted.

“Cut the crap. We both know you’re not here to visit me. You want money. I don’t have any money. End of visit. Please leave.” You went to go turn back into your apartment but he stopped you with a hand on your arm.

He laughed. “Aw, you’re just like your mama was. Full of fire! Smart as a whip! She’d have been proud of you. I’m proud of you. I ain’t here for no money. I just wanted to see ya! It’s been too long! Please, can’t we just visit a bit? Just for a bit?”

You closed your eyes and sighed. This was a bad idea. You should shake off his hand and slam the door in his face. “Ray… Dad…”

“Just a few minutes, then I’m gone. Promise! Please?”

Stupid. This was a stupid idea. Keeping your eyes shut, you opened the door wider so he could come in. You flinched as he gave you a sideways hug and walked past you into your apartment.

He let out a low whistle as he surveyed your home. “Nice digs! Looks like you’re doing well for yourself! Gotta say, am a little jealous!” He flopped down on your couch. “What’s your secret?”

You glanced around your apartment, finding no sign of Bob. Good. He actually listened to you and was staying out of sight.

“I work and don’t waste my money on crack,” you answered honestly, standing off to the side with your arms awkwardly folded over your chest. You were still in your pajamas.

Ray gawked at you and then started laughing, which turned into a coughing fit. Geez. You really did feel bad for him. Part of you would always care about him. He was your father. But…you couldn’t take care of him. You couldn’t. He would just use you. Like always. He couldn’t help himself.

“Seriously, how do you know where I live now?” You asked once he had caught his breath.

“You remember ‘ol Brian who used to come over to hang with me back in the day?” He asked, wiping his mouth.

“Vaguely,” you replied.

“Well, he lives just around the corner from you in this apartment complex. He saw you out one day and recognized ya. And lately, we’ve been talking about getting the old band back together and he told me he’d seen you. Small world, huh?” He chuckled.

“Yeah. Great. Small world.” You grumbled.

He smiled at you. “Damn. You’re act just like your mom used to.” He scratched at his chest, his eyes glazing over a bit. “Just like her… Say, can I at least borrow a few bucks for…”

“No! See, this is exactly why I didn’t wanna let you in! That’s all you wanted! That’s all you ever want when you come see me!” You took in a shaky breath, trying to reclaim your calm. Calm down. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Aw, come on! We were having a nice visit! You shouldn’t shout at your old man. I raised you, you know.” He pouted again.

“No you…I’m not going to argue with you. Please leave.” You went to go open the front door.

“Yeah I did! Raised ya by myself. And now look at you. Livin’ in this nice place! I’m sure you could at least spare a little bit of money for your old man. It’s the least you could do!”

“Leave!” You yelled.

He stood up, looking down at you. “Aw, come on now! All I’m asking…”

“Are ya deaf? Get lost!” Bob growled, cutting him off mid-sentence. He was standing in the doorway of your room, his bright red eyes glaring at Ray. Shit. Shit!

Ray was looking at Bob wide-eyed. “Is…is that what I think it is?” He gasped as he approached Bob. “How do you even have one of these? Do you have any idea what it’s worth?”

Bob tensed and snarled up at Ray, his mouth stretched over his sharp teeth in a menacing grimace. You quickly crossed the room and Bob squeaked as you scooped him up and held him protectively to your chest.

“Get. Out.” You repeated evenly, glaring daggers at your father. “Or I’m calling the police.”

Well. That got his attention. He straightened up, staring wide-eyed at you. He opened his mouth like he would say something and then seemed to think better of it. He glanced at Bob one last time before heading for the door, slamming it behind him on his way out. You walked over and locked it, standing with your back against it.

“Uh…you can put me down now… Heh, squeezing me a little tight there…” Bob said nervously.

Oh! Oh wow, you didn’t even realize you were still holding him. “Sorry,” you said, your voice sounding…off. Carefully, you set him down on the floor as he stood and stared up at you.

Breakfast. You should make breakfast.

On autopilot, you moved to the fridge and opened it, staring blankly inside. What were you doing again?

“Tiny,” Bob said quietly behind you.

Right. Breakfast. There was some leftover rice…

“Tiny,” Bob tried again.

Yeah. Leftover rice. You could add some sugar and make a sort of porridge. That was breakfast-like, right?

Bob called your real name and you paused, looking down at him. He’d never used your actual name before.

“I think you should come sit down.” He was grasping your pant leg, gently pulling it toward the den and looking up at you with concern.

“What? Why? I’m fine.” You croaked. Why were you croaking?

“You’re not fine. You’re crying.”

Huh? You wiped at your eyes. Huh. Your fingers were wet. You really were crying. What do you know. Funny, the tears weren’t stopping. You let out a choked sob. But…

You slid to the ground of your kitchen, hugging your knees to your chest and letting out ugly sobs into your arms. Oh god. Your father. He looked awful. And you pushed him away. You wanted to help him.

You couldn’t help him. He would have tried to steal Bob. You couldn’t let him hurt Bob.

But what if your dad died? Like your mom? And you didn’t do anything about it?

You couldn’t do anything about it. You knew this. You knew. It still hurt. You still loved your father and it hurt to see him like this. To push him away. You had to. You couldn’t help him. He’d just drag you down with him. Again. It wasn’t fair.

A paper towel was pressed into one of your hands and you glanced up to see Bob tentatively climbing up to your shoulder to sit. Wiping your nose with the paper towel, you buried your face in your arms again. Bob didn’t say anything. He just sat on your shoulder and pet your hair as you cried.


	12. Chapter 12: Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it's not raining like crazy where you all are! 'Cause it's kinda doing that where I am. :P Anyways... enjoy your week/this chapter/whatever you like to enjoy/all of the above! ^-^

“Apples or plums?” You asked as cheerfully as possible as you shifted the grocery basket to the other arm.

“Either one’s good.” Bob sat on your shoulder, being too… agreeable. And quiet.

“Ever had plums before?” You asked as you reached out to study them. Hm, you didn’t really know any tricks for picking out good plums, but these seemed like they’d probably be good.

“No.”

“Plums it is then!” You adjusted the handles of the grocery basket on your arm again. Ugh, it was heavy. Should have grabbed a cart. Or grabbed the milk last.

Yeah, Bob was being entirely too quiet and too agreeable. It was starting to frustrate you. Ok, so maybe you were a little embarrassed about breaking down in front of him earlier. But that had passed. You were fine now! Especially after you had retreated to your room for a bit, alone, and dumped all your negativity into the ‘ol journal where it belonged. He didn’t have to be all careful and nice around you! You’d rather him just forget anything ever happened that morning and have him return to being the moody little jerk he usually was. You really wished he’d stop shooting you worried looks whenever he thought you weren’t paying attention.

“I figure after we go home and put away groceries, maybe we can pack a lunch and go hang out at the park or something? It’s a nice day for it. And I did say we’d go do something fun.” You headed for the self-checkout registers. Yay technology and limited human interactions!

“Only if you want to. We don’t have to. Hey, your arm…is it ok? Those red dents don’t look right…”

“Bob! Alright, enough!” You barked at him as he flinched and a few people in the store looked over your way. Gah. You lowered your voice. “Seriously, stop with this over-niceness and concern. I’m fine. You’re making me crazy.”

“Ok… It’s just, ya know. If ya wanted to talk about it…” he hedged.

“I’d rather not…” You started scanning all the items in the basket. You frowned, not looking at Bob, and all but whispered, “Can…Can we just pretend this morning never happened? And go back to being snarky to each other? Please?”

Bob was quiet as you bagged up the groceries. Finally, he answered, murmuring, “You’re the snarky one. I’m always nice to you. Asshole.”

You shot him a look and he gave you a small smile as you realized…ah, he was doing exactly what you’d asked. Without making a big deal of it.

“Thanks,” you said, giving him a small smile in return.

He grinned toothily at that. “Sure thing! I’ll call ya an ‘asshole’ any time ya need me to!”

“Alright. Don’t go all overboard with this. Geez.” You grumbled.

You grabbed up your groceries and headed out the door, Bob quietly humming some anime theme.

Strange. It had only been a week since you brought him home and having him around already felt like normal. Comfortable. It was really strange how comfortable you were getting with him already. Almost like you could trust him and be yourself around him.

Nah, best not to think about mushy crap. You could enjoy the day without all that. The rest of the day was going to be a good day despite the rough start earlier.  
  
It really was a beautiful day. Not too hot or humid, complete with a nice breeze. The clouds were big and puffy in the sky. Perfect day to go to the park. Plus, Bob had been cooped up at the apartment all week. It would be nice for him to get some fresh air besides just during the shopping trip.

*****

Well, the playground area of the park was definitely out. Why do kids insist on constantly screaming at the top of their lungs? You felt for their parents. Bob and you glanced at each other briefly, an unspoken agreement to “set up camp” as far from the playground as possible.

The park was situated so that the playground was near the entrance. A little ways to the side was a pond where kids would go feed the fat friendly ducks, despite the sign urging them not to. Bread really wasn’t good for water fowl.

Towards the back of the park were some grassy hills that were wide and flat enough to allow people to picnic, sit, or fly kites if they wanted to. Luckily it seemed the back-most hill was relatively free of people.

You carefully set Bob in the grass and flopped down on your back staring up at the clouds. Bob stood and tilted his head at you for a few seconds before he shrugged and flopped down beside you, close to your shoulder. He seemed to be enjoying the sun and breeze as he watched the clouds with you.

“Wanna play a game?” You asked.

“Not if it involves me sawing off my own leg.”

“Ug, you watch too much trash. I hate that movie.”

He laughed. “Alright, fine, what game?”

“We could play the 20 Truths and Lies game.” You replied.

“The what?”

“It’s a game where you trade questions back and forth and have to figure out if the other person’s answer is the truth or a lie. You get points if you guess correctly. You also get three passes to not answer a question. Though that gives the other person a point too. First one to 20 points wins. And no cheating.”

“Argh. That sounds boring. Like one of those stupid games kids play to get ta know each other.” He wrinkled his face in disgust, still staring at the clouds.

“Fine.” Whatever. Silence was good too. You continued to watch the clouds make their lazy trek across the sky, forming shapes as they did. One particularly large and puffy one looked like a dragon that was swallowing the sun, casting the park in temporary shadow. It was a tiny bit cooler as the cloud covered the sun. Then, it passed, and the bright rays of the sun came out again. You closed your eyes, basking in the warmth. It really was nice out. Warm sun, cool breeze, soft grass…

“Are ya falling asleep?” Bob asked.

You smiled without opening your eyes. “No,” you answered.

“You’re lying. One point for me.”

You glanced over and Bob had that small smile he’d been wearing lately as he continued to watch the clouds. “So we’re playing now?” You asked.

“Does that really count as your question? That seems too easy. Try again.”

You laughed. “Ok…hm…what’s your favorite color?”

He turned his head to give you a deadpan look. “Pink.”

“Pfft, haha, ok I know that’s a lie. My point.”

Bob grinned and then returned to staring at the sky. You were picking the tiny yellow flowers growing in the grass, weaving them into a tiny little crown.

“What’s your favorite kinda food?” Bob asked.

“The edible kind. I’m not too picky. Though every now and again, I do love a good burger joint. The kind with the thick burgers with all the fixings. And steak fries.”

“I’m guessin’ you’re telling the truth. That does sound good. I’ve only ever seen them in commercials so I wouldn’t know. Always looked pretty good.”

“Yeah, your point. And wow, ok, we’re going to have to fix that injustice on your part. We’re going out and getting some real burgers tonight! With the works! Extra mustard and everything. Well, yours can have extra mustard.”

He looked over at you like you just told him he’d won the lottery. “Really?” He squeaked, sitting up on his elbows. Haha, he actually squeaked.

You were sure if his eyes could sparkle, they would be sparkling. As it was, the lights in his eyes were about taking over both of his eye sockets. Oh god, you couldn’t start laughing. “S-sure,” you managed to stifle a giggle. “I’ve got enough money this week we can splurge a little. Just this one time.”

He frowned as his eyes returned to normal size. “Oh, right. Uh… I don’t actually need… you don’t have to do that for me. I know money’s tight…”

“Oh for crying out loud! I want to eat burgers tonight, alright? For me. You can come get a burger with me if you want or just make me eat alone.” You pouted dramatically at him, then placed the little flower crown you made on his skull.

Heh, the flower crown stayed on his head less than a second before he made an irritated sound and it was violently thrown off. Despite himself though, he cracked a smile. “Ok, ok. We’ll go eat burgers.”

“Good. My turn to ask a question. Hm… What’s one of your greatest dreams? Like if you could do anything, what would you wanna do?”

He thought about it, staring up at the sky. “Anything?”

“Yup. Anything.”

Hm. He was giving this one some thought. You turned your head to face him, patiently waiting for his answer.

“Well…you know that giant, gaudy vase decoration in front the flower display at the grocery store?”

“…”

He grinned manically at you. “I really wanna smash it to pieces! And then maybe stomp those pieces! Argh, that thing begs to be destroyed! The times I’ve seen it, I really had to restrain myself from just dashing over there and takin’ care of it myself!”

“Bob! Seriously? That’s what you’d choose if you could do anything? Are you telling the truth?”

He continued to grin at you. “Yup.”

“Seriously? That’s what you’re going with? You could choose anything!”

“What can I say? I’m a simple skeleton. What else could I want?” He got comfortable again, laying back and folding his hands behind his head and continuing to grin at the sky.

You scoffed. “Gee, I don’t know! Freedom? Happiness? Being able to live your life how you want to live it? Not having to worry about…stuff?” Hm, you probably shouldn’t have blurted all that out. You expected him to frown at you or look upset but he surprised you by maintaining a small smile.

“I’m happy. Life’s pretty good lately. I’m where I wanna be. As for worrying, isn’t that just part of life? Everyone’s got somethin’ they worry about.”

Huh. He didn’t seem to be lying. He was happy? You had been thinking he just felt kind of stuck where he was since he had nowhere else to go. He was seriously good with the way things were?

Bob looked over at you and suddenly cracked up laughing. “You’re such a sap!” He declared.

“W-what?” You stuttered.

“Heh, you’re blushing!”

“Sh…shut up. Jerk,” you grumbled, turning your face away from him as he continued to laugh. Stupid tiny skeleton.

He settled down and you both continued to watch the clouds. A jogger passed you all and kept going.

“So…your father…” Bob began, hesitating.

“Pass,” you said, not letting him finish.

You didn’t want to ruin a good day with that talk. He seemed to understand, as he didn’t press the issue. Even with his occasional moody outbursts, you were starting to notice how surprisingly mature Bob could be. Which was weird considering that Bitties weren’t created that long ago.

“How old are you?” You asked suddenly.

Bob shrugged. “Dunno. Guess I was kinda born as an adult? I remember a lab…white coats…and then spendin’ a lot of time in a store. The person who sat at the front desk watched a lot of TV. A lot of TV. I was able to see it from the tank thing they kept me and the others in. Guess I learned a bunch from watching it.”

“But there’s no way you could’ve learned everything from TV! No way you could’ve learned not only how to speak, but how to read from just watching TV!”

“Yeah… I’ve kinda wondered about that too. My memories before the store are kinda hazy… I’ve got a theory.”

“Oh?” You turned on your side to face him.

“Yup. So Utaugen … they made my kind. Said they found a way to create soul energy. But what if they didn’t?”

“What are you talking about? Clearly they did. You’re sitting here talking to me, right?”

“No, hear me out.” He sat up stretching his arms with audible little pops (uugh), before turning to face you. He sat cross-legged in front of you. “Yeah, they found a way to attach souls to skeletal cellular frameworks. But these souls…what if they already existed? Like, they weren’t created. They were just there. Maybe reincarnated souls or somethin’ just kinda float around in the air and the company scientists found a way to pull them outta the air and tether ‘em? Would explain why even amongst the same kinds of Bitties, there’s such variation in personalities.”

“You mean not all Edgy Bitties are like you?”

“Nope. Heh, the ones I’ve met in the store, most of ‘em couldn’t even speak. Always thought that was kinda strange. Even though we’re supposed to be clones. The reincarnated soul theory would also explain why I just kinda know stuff I probably shouldn’t.”

Hm.

“What happened to you after the store? Did someone eventually… buy you?” You asked.

A dark look passed over his features as his eye sockets went completely dark. “Pass,” he said. He closed his eyes, shuddering and rubbing a hand over his face before he opened them and his eye lights had returned again. He replaced his look with a smile. It looked a little forced. “Besides, you’ve gotten to ask a buncha questions. It’s my turn.”

Hm. That… wasn’t a good reaction. Something had clearly happened to him in the past. But you weren’t going to make him talk about it since he clearly didn’t want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shameless tumblr plug [here](http://lywellen.tumblr.com)* Feel free to message/ask/critique/what have ya/(i'm in a '/' kinda mood I guess) if you want to! ^-^


	13. Chapter 13: Flowers Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yeah I've got nothin. *shrugs* Except, ya know, this chapter and all. ^~^;;

  
Bob sat tapping his chin with a finger for a few seconds before asking, “Speakin’ of age… how old were ya when you went to live on your own?”

“…Fifteen.” You must have been frowning because Bob went silent again. You both continued to watch the clouds for a bit, listening to the sounds of the kids shouting and doing whatever kids did in the distance.

After a while, he asked, “You been working with that doctor at the vet hospital since then?”

“Yeah. Hah, even after they saw right through my fake ID. Dr. Rivera and Gary, they’re good people…” You trailed off, staring at the sky.

“Am I allowed to ask about any of your parents?” He tried.

Before you could answer, you were interrupted by a shadow cast over you. You sat up.

“Dude, awesome!” Some college-aged guy said as he leaned over the two of you. “Yo, Chuck! Come check it out! They’ve got an Edgy too!”

“Dude!” a Baby Blue (which you now noticed) chirped happily at you from the guy’s shoulder. It smiled and waved, regarding you with bright, glowing, blue eyes.

Another guy, Chuck you assumed, jogged up beside his friend (or brother, you noticed since they were literally identical twins) as you helped Bob to your shoulder and got to your feet. Sure enough, Chuck did have an Edgy on his shoulder…but the Edgy was wearing a harness leash and what looked to be a makeshift basket muzzle on his face. As they neared, the Edgy narrowed its eye sockets and snarled at you. You were kind of taken aback… you knew the Edgies were essentially clones, but you just weren’t expecting him to look exactly like Bob. He even wore the same annoyed expression Bob more than occasionally showed, arms folded tightly over his chest and everything. Eerie. And you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him…

Chuck made a show of leaning over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath as his Edgy almost fell off his shoulder. “Come on, bro! I’m not used to running up and down these hills!”

“Bro! Mweh heh heh!” the Baby Blue laughed, looking over and waving at Chuck, who didn’t seem to notice.

The brother just laughed and stuck his hand out to you. “Hi, I’m Jeff.”

A handshake? You shook his hand anyway.

“And this poor out-of-shape excuse for a man is Chuck.” He motioned with his thumb as Chuck grinned lopsidedly and shrugged beside him, almost toppling his Edgy again. “And you are?”

You gave your name, folding your arms. “And this is Bob,” you said, looking over at said Bitty who was staring at the other Edgy. And was not saying anything.

“Haha, Bob. I like it. This is Gabby. For obvious reasons,” Jeff grinned at the Baby Blue who grinned back and nodded enthusiastically. Hm…seemed Baby Blues had more human-looking teeth.

“And this little shit is Kujo,” Chuck declared, poking him on his shoulder as the Edgy snarled and tried to bite his finger through his muzzle. Chuck just laughed and poked at him again.

You winced but didn’t say anything.

“So me and my bro are down in the area visiting family for the summer while school’s out. You from around here?” Jeff asked. You nodded. “Oh man,” he continued, “It’s weird not only finding someone else with a Bitty, but someone with an Edgy at that. Haven’t found many in this area that have them. I’ve got to ask, how’d you get yours not to bite or run away or break stuff like they tend to do?”

“I…” you glanced at Bob who was folding his arms and giving you an uneasy look. He clearly wasn’t too keen on talking with these people either.

“Yeah, I want to know too. Oh man, I was this close,” Chuck held his hand up with his thumb and pointer finger close together, “to returning Kujo here and getting a Baby Blue instead. But luckily I found a guy online who made leashes and muzzles. Plus it’s funnier Jeff having a sweet Baby Blue me having an evil Edgy, you know?” He laughed like it was one of the funniest jokes ever as his brother grinned at him. Gabby smiled uneasily and Kujo shifted uncomfortably. Did these guys even realize their Bitties could probably understand them?

Well, at least their Bitties looked well cared for physically. Clean clothes. Bright eyes. Well…maybe Kujo’s glowing eyes were a little more dim. You wished you could help him. Like you always did when you saw creatures in peoples’ care that clearly weren’t getting the best care.

“Not real talkative, are you?” Jeff mused. “That’s ok! Maybe we can go out and get to know each other over some lunch?” He raised his eyebrows hopefully.

“Lunch!” Gabby declared helpfully.

“I… I’ve got somewhere else to be actually.” You made a show of checking your…wrist. You forgot your watch. Awkward. Just go with it. “Yeah, um… nice meeting you all.”

“Wait! At least tell us how you got your Edgy to act so tame. Here, let me show you the one trick I got Kujo to learn and maybe you can give me some pointers.” Chuck looked at Kujo who started growling at him. “Kujo, do your trick.”

Kujo started growling louder. Chuck flicked him and Kujo flinched, putting his hands up to shield his skull.

“Kujo! Do your trick!” Chuck raised his hand up to flick him again.

“Stop it!” You yelled and all eyes, human and Bitty, turned to look at you. “Don’t… you shouldn’t treat him like that.”

Chuck snorted. “What? Why? They’re not even alive! They’re like robots with bones! They can mimic words and feelings, but they’re not actually living. They don’t actually feel. Silly.”

“You’re wrong.” You glared at him and could feel your face heating up. You were getting angry, but you had to make them understand.

Chuck and Jeff looked at each other and started laughing as the Bitties on their shoulders stared at you curiously.

“Oh man! I’m sorry,” Jeff chuckled as he wiped at his nose. “I didn’t know you were one of those crazy animal rights nut jobs. My brother’s right though, while interesting, Bitties aren’t alive.”

“You seriously believe that, don’t you? Do you even pay attention to the Bitties you care for? How they react to you or the faces they make when you all talk? They are alive! They have to eat and breathe just like people. They feel. And they can understand everything we’re saying!” Great, you were shaking now you were so angry.

“Aww, do you understand me Kujo? Do you have feelings? Can you make faces with your static, skeletal face?” Chuck coo’d at his Edgy. Kujo turned his wide eyes away from you to glare at Chuck. “Hm, he’s not answering. Guess that’s a no then.” Chuck grinned at you. “Do you even know why they quote ‘eat and breathe’ even though they don’t have organ systems?”

You didn’t. And it made you even more upset you didn’t.

Chuck looked down at you smugly. “Well, I’ll tell you. Their supposed soul needs fuel and oxygen to stay working, which does not automatically make it a living thing. Combustion engines aren’t alive and need the same to stay working and moving. Also, ever notice how Bitties change temperatures constantly? It’s to emulate emotions: warm for happy and colder for sad. Not exactly something other living creatures do.”

Again you were speechless. You didn’t know that. But he was still wrong about them!

“That’s ok. Not everyone is smart enough to study up on the things they own I guess. And they were created to appear to have emotions, so I can see how some people make that mistake. Seriously though, come to lunch with us. Tell me how you got your Edgy to behave and maybe we can teach you about Bitties?” Jeff asked hopefully. Gabby was ringing his hands looking nervously between you and Jeff, clearly reading the situation was not falling in Jeff’s favor even though Jeff wasn’t seeing it.

Oh hell no. Before you could tell them off, Bob spoke up. “You really are stupid, huh? You must be. Thinkin’ you can just insult someone’s intelligence and they’d still go to lunch with ya. Someone who’s clearly got more brains than the two of you combined.”

Both Chuck and Jeff stared at Bob in shock with their jaws comically held open. Kujo narrowed his eyes at Bob and Gabby put a hand over his mouth and stared at him wide-eyed.

“Holy shit!” Jeff breathed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Bitty so… articulate! How… can I see him?” He stepped closer.

You stepped back. “No. We’re leaving.”

“How much?” Chuck asked, eyeing Bob. “How much do you want for your Bitty?”

You spared one glare (Bob spared him one finger) and turned around, starting to walk away.

“I’ll give you $15,000. I can write you a check right now!” Chuck called after you.

You kept walking.

“$25,000! Come on, that’s like over double what he’s worth!” He called as he and his brother followed you.

You stopped and wheeled around, Chuck’s hopeful look quickly turning sour as he took in your expression. “Fuck off!” You spat at him.

Kujo had to put two hands over his muzzle to stifle his laughter. Luckily Chuck didn’t notice. God, you wished you could help Kujo. You turned and started walking again and this time, they didn’t follow you.

You wanted to punch something. Smug little shits. Their poor Bitties.

“Bad day?” Bob asked quietly as you neared the car.

“Bad day,” you agreed.

“Video games?” He looked at you hopefully.

“Video games.” You let out a breath, laughing.

That Saturday wasn’t all bad. Later that night, you all did go eat burgers. The look on Bob’s face as he bit into his burger with cheese and extra mustard was priceless. He practically had tears in his eye sockets he was so excited. To Bob’s chagrin, you even managed to snap a picture of him on your phone while he ate, getting burger and mustard all over himself. Haha, blackmail for later.

Of course, one of the glass cups did end up shattered on the ground “by accident.” You’d have to remember to specify plastic cups only next time you all went out…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions? Comments? Just wanna chat? Come to the [Tumblr](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com) page.


	14. Chapter 13.5: Gabby's POV Bonus Mini-Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, thank you letsallbecalmchaps for inspiring this little short! 
> 
> Hope you're all having a lovely weekend! ^-^

**********Gabby's POV**********

Gabby. That was his name. He was a Bitty. Jeff gave him this name. Jeff was his human. Bro, that was his human’s brother. Sometimes Bro went by another name too. Kujo was Bro’s Bitty.

Everyone loved Gabby. Except Kujo. Kujo didn’t seem to like anyone. That was ok. Gabby was good. Kujo was good.

Bro sometimes joked about sending Kujo away. Gabby didn’t like that joke. It was a lie. Lying was bad. Bro was good and shouldn’t lie.

Kujo was smart. That was his talent. He was good at escaping. Bro was not happy about that. Kujo was. Kujo was proud but reckless.

Gabby said small words. Small words were his talent. He also understood the big words. Gabby was proud of his talents. Saying the big words took a lot of energy. Gabby had never tried. That was ok. Jeff was happy when Gabby said small words. Jeff liked Gabby. Gabby was happy.

One day, Gabby, Jeff, Kujo, and Bro went to the park. They met a human there with another Bitty. This Bitty shone brightly. His name was Bob. His owner _saw_ him. His owner looked at Gabby and Kujo and _saw_ them too. Gabby was surprised. He didn’t know humans could _see_ him.

The other human was angry Jeff and Bro couldn’t _see_ Bitties. But _seeing_ was not a talent of Jeff and Bro. Gabby didn’t want this human to be angry. Jeff was good. Bro was good. The other human was good. Gabby wanted them to be friends.

Bob’s talents were being smart and understanding and saying the big words. That was a lot of talents! Jeff was surprised. Bro wanted to own Bob. The other human and Bob were angry and left. Sometimes making friends was hard.

Jeff and Bro were still talking about Bob who could make the big words. Gabby wanted Jeff to be impressed with Gabby. Gabby could learn new talents.

So, Gabby took a deep breath, concentrated hard, and said, “Jeff happy Gabby big words too?”

He did it! Gabby was proud of himself. But Jeff and Bro stopped talking. They were looking at Gabby. Kujo quietly slipped his leash. The brothers were looking like they were maybe trying to _see_ Gabby. Gabby was surprised. Maybe they wanted to learn new talents too?

 


	15. Chapter 14:  Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: This chapter is sad. I kinda don't want to ruin what happens with a trigger warning, but if you would like one, please scroll to the bottom of the page first. 
> 
> I'm so sorry. T-T

Over the next few weeks, between working and when Bob wasn’t looking, you studied up on Bitties. You figured you really didn’t know a whole lot about them and probably should. Unfortunately, most sources agreed that they weren’t technically living. They’re not made up of cells (besides their bones) and were mostly made of soul energy. They didn’t grow. They didn’t reproduce. They also widely fluctuated in temperature depending on their moods. You had noticed that at certain times, Bob could feel really warm. Like that time you told him he looked handsome in that yellow and black jacket with the fluffy trim you had bought him online. Haha, so weird.

As far as understanding went… well, you’d been a little wrong about all Bitties understanding everything people said. Seemed Bitties had varying degrees of intelligence. Bob was probably at the higher end of the spectrum as far as speech and intelligence went. Though there were reports of other Bitties that couldn’t speak but were very intelligent and could certainly find their own methods of communication. And those that could speak very well but were more simple and child-like.

Bob, meanwhile, seemed to be settling in great. You had gotten him his emergency phone, just in case the internet went out. One of those disposable phones with the pre-paid minutes. Better than nothing. Though so far, communicating via the computer seemed to be working just fine. You had even managed to saw a small rectangle at the bottom of your front door and fashioned it with a sort of “doggy door” that could be locked from the inside. That way, Bob could get out if he needed to. (Though you were pretty sure you could kiss your deposit goodbye after that). Determined to be self-sufficient, Bob had designed a system of pulleys that he could use to open and close cupboards (and you installed them). The fridge and freezer were still posing a problem. Though a small lunch box and ice packs worked for the day, Bob seemed slightly irked he still had to rely on you to fill the box.

Bob actually got better at cleaning and kept the apartment relatively tidy. It seemed he really did feel the need to be helpful or useful or whatever. You could tell it really bothered him that you worked and paid for everything. You once joked about being his “suga roomie” and he REALLY didn’t find that funny. In fact, he had stayed on top of the fridge and wouldn’t talk to you for almost a whole day afterward. You were more careful with your jokes after that. Bob could be really sensitive.

Ok, so you maybe got mad at him too sometimes. Like the time you came home to find the shattered remains of your favorite mug in the trash followed by a stuttered apology. You might have locked him out of your room and ignored him for a few hours afterward.

Work was as hectic as it usually was during the summer months. Dr. Rivera eased up a bit on the “no Bob” rule and Bob was allowed to come to the hospital a few days a week. If he stayed in the back. Out of sight of the clients.

Bob and Gary were starting to get along. Seemed they shared a love of random internet memes and you even caught them laughing together over things a few times. Who the heck was “dat boi?” Leave it to Gary to finally win Bob over. He could win over just about anyone.

Dr. Rivera and Bob… You were pretty sure they’d never get along. The most those two would share were suspicious looks and distance. Mary (the receptionist) and Bob were indifferent toward each other. Mary was indifferent toward most people.

You and Bob settled into a routine. When you got home from work, you’d either watch some anime or some cheesy sci-fi flick on TV, or play video games. Bob got surprisingly good at fighting games (or maybe you were just REALLY bad at them) and he about rivaled you in competitiveness! It was actually quite hilarious to watch him stretch and lean to reach the buttons. But man, he was seriously salty when he lost.

He’d go to work with you at least once a week or more if it was stormy out. He really hated storms but was getting better about not completely freaking out. Though he’d still sneak in to sleep on your pillow whenever it stormed and you’d still pretend not to notice; even when he’d reach over to to wrap his arms around one of your fingers (and yeah, maybe you conveniently slept with your hand on your pillow during storm nights).  
  
***

You nodded again at the client in front of you as she talked and pet a very peturbed cat who was staring you down while flicking his tail.

“And I named him Mr. Fluffers after the late Mr. Fluffers who passed away over a year ago because he reminded me of him but their personalities are completely different.” The woman looked at you. You nodded again, opening your mouth to again ask how long he had been scratching his ears.

But the woman continued, “Though the late Mr. Fluffers would flick his right ear back when upset and this Mr. Fluffers flicks his left ear back and I think he may shed a little more…”

You nodded again, wondering if your head could conceivably fall off if you kept nodding. This appointment was going nowhere fast. The woman would…not…stop…talking. And all of this information was meaningless. You just needed to know how long Mr. Fluffers had been shaking his head and scratching his ears. Then you could run an ear cytology, Dr. Rivera could prescribe some ear cleaner and meds, and send them on their merry way.

But no. You had to hear Mr. Fluffers’ entire life story first. And there was no polite way to really steer the conversation in the right direction. You had tried. Twice.

Finally, finally, after hearing about the different kinds of sweaters Mr. Fluffers liked to wear and a bit about the client’s own health problems, you got the information you needed and were able to enter in your history.

Dr. Rivera still wasn’t out of room 2. And he was already 30 minutes behind schedule!

Today was going to be one of those days. The phones were ringing off the hook to the point where both Mary and Gary could not keep up with them. You could barely keep up with the rooms what with having to help answer the phones, get histories, assist Dr. Rivera, and clean up pee in the front lobby because an intact male chihuahua decided to mark every vertical surface while the owner played on her phone, oblivious.

You knocked on the door of room 2, asking if Dr. Rivera needed help. He motioned you away as he continued his “your pet needs a dental cleaning” speech. You wouldn’t doubt that dog needed her teeth cleaned, you could smell her breath from where you were standing. Poor dog. But you knew Mr. Fluffers would take a while what with the chatty owner and you still had another client waiting in the lobby. Ugh, you really needed to get that chihuahua into a room.

“Hey, could you come up front for a sec?” Mary leaned in the doorway calling to you.

Ah man, what now?

Waiting at the front dest was an older woman holding up her cellphone to you. Ah, you recognized this woman as one of your regular clients. You approached and squinted at what looked like a blurry picture of a red splotch on a grey background.

“I think Brutus has been scratching at his skin again. Does this look infected to you? Should I bring him in?” She asked.

God, you had no idea what you were even looking at. You were getting ready to tell her that if she was worried, she should schedule Brutus to come in… when someone literally burst through the front doors, frantic and cradling something in his hands.

He locked eyes with you, recognition lighting up his panicked, sweaty face. “You! I know you! Please! You’ve gotta help him! He got away and the cat… Please help him!” He yelled, thrusting the creature in his hands toward you.

You recognized the man as one of the twins you had met at the park a few weeks back. Then in his hands…

Kujo. Shit! You grabbed the Bitty from him, rushing to the back. He was in a bad way… his shirt was in tatters and you could see he also had several missing ribs and a large puncture in his skull. A red smoke seemed to be seeping out of the open holes. His whole body felt cold.

Dr. Rivera was coming out of the room as you rushed past, saying, “Treatment, now! Emergency!”

Shit. You needed to calm down. Remember your training. Think. Dr. Rivera rushed over as you set the Bitty on the table, cutting away his clothes and grabbing gauze to try to hold it over the wounds. The red smoke kept leaking out around the gauze no matter how you pressed it to the cracked bones and open holes. The smoke dissipated into this fine, white powdery substance as soon as it hit the gauze. Kujos’ eye sockets were shut tightly and his face was scrunched in pain. This wasn’t working. It wasn’t working! Stay calm.

Dr. Rivera froze beside you. “This… no. No, I don’t deal with these things. They’re not even aliv…” He started.

“Don’t you dare! Please, help me!” You pleaded, trying your hardest to keep what looked like the Bitty’s soul from leaking out.

“Fine. Fine! Dammit.” He rushed over to the surgery area, quickly returning with the bone putty.

“Here, hold him down,” he barked at you as he gloved up and opened a packet, scooping some of the playdough-like substance out.

You held Kujo still as Dr. Rivera stuffed the putty into the open parts of the Bitty’s ribs and yes…it seemed to be stopping the soul from bleeding out. Kujo was taking quick, uneven breaths. As Dr. Rivera applied the bone putty to the last puncture wound in Kujo’s skull, the Bitty took a few final, shuddering breaths and then stopped breathing completely.

You both watched him, waiting for something.

He wasn’t bleeding anymore… shouldn’t he be stabilized? But he wasn’t breathing.

You reached out to touch him and jumped as almost instantly, he dissolved into dust.

Just dust and a small, metal, rice-like object.

You stared at the pile of dust, shocked. There was dust on your fingers too. It was cold and fine…like snow.

You were still standing with your hand hovering over the pile of dust, with dust on your fingers. Just dust. It had happened so fast.

Dr. Rivera slowly reached over into the pile of dust to pick up the metal object, studying it. “Microchip…” He said quietly.

You both continued to stare at the pile of dust. You thought about the angry, muzzled Bitty the dust used to be. His expressions so much like Bob’s…

You dropped your hand, trying to wipe the stuff from your fingers as you stared at the pile of dust. It wouldn’t wipe off.

Mary walked through the doorway, and both you and Dr. Rivera quickly peeled your eyes away from the dust pile to look at her.

“Oh…” She said, as you both turned to stare at her and she noticed what remained of the Bitty. She winced. “So… I had Kujo’s owner filling out paperwork… should I get him into room 2?”

“Yeah.” Dr. Rivera cleared his throat. “Yeah. Do that. Thanks, Mary.”

She left and Dr. Rivera gently placed the microchip back in the pile of dust. It rolled, creating a straight little path in the pile.

Had you been too slow? What if you had grabbed the bone putty right away? Would Kujo be alive right now if you had done something different… been faster? He had been so lively just a few weeks ago. Laughing when you told off Chuck and his brother…

“I have to go talk to its owner. I should probably go find out the owner’s name…”

“Chuck,” you said. “His name is Chuck.”

“Oh. Ok. Well.” He cleared his throat again, took off his glasses, cleaned them, and put them back on. “Well, if you could, we should package up the… er, remains. In case Chuck wants them. You do that. I’ll go talk to him.”

“Ok,” you said, still staring at the dust.

It happened so fast. Why couldn’t you have saved him?

Dr. Rivera called your name, breaking you from your stupor. “You ok?” He asked. “Need a moment?”

“No. No, I’m fine.” You shook your head, rubbing at your face with the hand not covered in dust. “I’ve got this. You ok?”

“Yeah. These things happen sometimes. We tried our best. Just sometimes this… we tried our best. Yeah… Yeah…” He took of his glasses again and cleaned them before replacing them again. Then slowly made his way over to room 2.

You carefully scooped Kujo’s remains and microchip into one of the plastic pill vials you had. You couldn’t think of anything else to use. You wish you had something more appropriate to use. Putting his remains in something like that felt wrong. But there was nothing else. Should you put what remained of his clothes in there too? That didn’t seem right either.

Afterward, you washed your hands. It still felt like there were fine particles of dust on your fingers, no matter how much soap you used and how hard you scrubbed them.

Mr. Fluffer’s owner was peeking out through the door of room 1, impatience in her tone as she asked, “Excuse me. Is the doctor going to be much longer?”

“I’m sorry for the wait,” you said, drying your hands. “He had to deal with an emergency… he should be in shortly.”

She scoffed. “Shortly? That’s what you said last time! Anyway, could you bring Mr. Fluffers a bowl of water? He’s thirsty.”

“Of course,” you said.

And you brought it. There was crying coming from the room next-door. Huh. At least Chuck really did seem to care about Kujo after all. He brought him to a vet. A place for living things…

“Well that doesn’t sound very good,” Mr. Fluffer’s owner said to you, lowering her voice and looking concerned. “What’s going on over there?”

“Someone lost their friend…” You said, not wanting to go into detail. You had kept it together so far. No crying. Doing good.

“Oh my! That’s so sad… Oh! I forgot to ask, when the doctor comes in, can we get Mr. Fluffer’s nails cut too?”

You nodded, offering her a weak smile while swallowing the lump in your throat. Maintaining your professional persona.

You never got to see Chuck before he left with Kujo’s remains. That was probably for the best. You don’t know what you could have possibly said to him. You didn’t even really know him or Kujo.

Somehow, you all caught up on all the appointments by the end of the day. As always, you seamlessly moved from the sad appointments to the happier ones while shifting your emotions as was appropriate to each situation. Always remaining professional. Doing good.

***

You were numb and tired when you got home later that evening. Luckily, you had remembered to message Bob and let him know you were running late so he didn’t worry.

He met you at the door, looking nervous and all kinds of guilty.

“Uh… welcome home, Tiny,” he greeted, barely meeting your eyes and sweating nervously. “I uh… may have sorta broken one of the lamps. I know I said I’d work on my…um…issue, but it was just sittin’ there at the edge of the table and… wait wait! I’m sorry! I…uh…”

You had scooped him up and were hugging him against your shoulder with your cheek resting against the top of his skull.

“Uh…” He trailed off.

You just had to hold him for a while. Feel him breathe. Feel him awkwardly reach up and pat at your face. Alive. Solid. Warm. Not dust.

You took a breath and let it out, lowering Bob back to the floor as you smiled at his dumbfounded and slightly red face.

“Just happy to see you. That’s all.” You offered as an explanation.

“Ok…” He said as he scratched the back of his skull. “You… um… you ok?”

“Yeah. Just… bad day. Bad day. I’m going to bed early.” You stepped over him, heading to your room. “Goodnight, Bob,” you said over your shoulder.

“Nite…” He called back as he remained standing where you had left him.

You wrote a few sentences in your journal before changing and getting into bed. Bob didn’t try to come into your room, probably sensing your need for some space. When you finally turned off the light and got under the covers, you let yourself cry silently into your pillow. You cried until you fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Character death. Fatal injuries.
> 
>  
> 
> Come yell at me on [ Tumblr ](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com) ^~^;;


	16. Chapter 14.5:  Bob POV Mini Chapter, The Book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out this amazing fan art: [ Here ](http://letsallbecalmchaps.tumblr.com/post/151389886851/so-this-is-his-name-was-bob-fanart-for-lywellen) and [ here! ](http://letsallbecalmchaps.tumblr.com/post/151430203956/lywellen-some-pictures-i-forgot-to-scan)

**********Bob’s POV**********

The fuck was all that about? What was going on with you? After that unusual emotional display, he had been left standing there, staring after you. Knowing something was wrong. Not knowing what to do about it. All you had told him was, “Bad day.” You were upset. And he couldn’t help you. It kinda pissed him off.

So much for sleep.

The next day, you seemed back to normal. Like every day, you woke up early so you had time to make breakfast for you both. Had time to take care of him. Like most mornings, you were all smiles and happy to see him. Even if he was being a grumpy shit ‘cause yet again he was frustrated you always took care of him and he couldn’t do anything for you.

God, he could barely say two words to you and yet you still smiled and patted his head on the way out. He couldn’t even be cheerful for you even after you had had such a rough day yesterday! But you didn’t get mad at him. You never even yelled at him over the broken lamp!

As soon as he heard your car start, he launched his paper plate full of food to the floor, splattering it everywhere. Fucking food! (He’d clean it up later.)

Welp. Time to calm down and try to find something to distract himself before he broke something else. Yet another day of you working and him home alone finding ways to entertain himself. Might as well wake up the computer and turn on the messenger so he’d hear it if you messaged him.

He sat staring blankly at the screen. There had to be something he could do for ya, besides clean. Not like he could cook for you. Last time he tried had been a disaster. Rice everywhere. Heavy pots and pans strewn across the kitchen floor.

Argh, why was he so useless? Why couldn’t you at least rely on him to talk about stuff that was bothering you? Whenever you got upset, you just clammed up and went and wrote in that damn book of yours.

That damn book just sitting in your nightstand drawer. With everything that bothered you just written out.

What if…

Nope! No way! He couldn’t do that! Geez, the one time you thought he read that thing was the angriest he’d ever seen you. Bob shuddered to think about it. Not that he was afraid you’d ever pulverize him or anything like that. But you might never trust him again… might grow to hate him… and that would hurt so much worse.

Argh, he needed to find a distraction. He walked around the keyboard, hitting keys with his feet before walking over to navigate the mouse. Looking at the latest news articles. Boring. Maybe he could find something interesting on Youtube? Nope. Boring, boring. He was left yet again staring blankly at the screen. Bored. Pointless.

There had to be something he could do! Cleaning?

He hopped down and went to clean up the food he had flung around earlier. Only an hour had passed since you had gone to work.

He wondered how your day was going. Argh, he wished he had been nicer to you this morning. Should he have asked to come to work with you today? Could he have helped you have a better day somehow? What the hell had even happened yesterday to upset you?

His thoughts again stayed to that book you were always writing in. Without really thinking, he had taken a few steps toward your room, then stopped abruptly.

No. He shouldn’t. Really shouldn’t.

But what if there was something in that book he needed to know? Something he could use to help you? Make things better for you? Didn’t he owe it to you to make things better? Make you happy? God, he’d do anything to make you happy.

Just one look…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come hang out with me on the [ Tumblr ](http://lywellen.tumblr.com) where I answer asks, give posting updates, and occasionally post vague foreshadowing. =P


	17. Chapter 15: Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short chapter. Um...enjoy? ^~^

Within the last week, Bob was acting…odd. Maybe it was due to the season change? The days were becoming shorter as the fall season approached.

It wasn’t that he was being angry or moody. Actually, quite the opposite. He was being really nice. Too nice. And kept giving you these weird concerned looks when he thought you weren’t watching. Hell, you even caught him throwing one of your Smash Bros. matches on purpose one night! It was obvious! And he seriously seemed to think you didn’t notice.

Something was definitely up. You decided to test your theory by “accidentally” leaving a coffee mug out on the counter the other day. And when you got home from work, the mug had mysteriously moved to the back of the counter and was still intact! How much self-control had that taken? And why was he trying so hard to be so nice? Was he feeling insecure again? Ugh, you didn’t know how to ask him about it without potentially hurting his feelings. But you were worried.

One Thursday, the clinic was completely dead in the water. No surgeries. No afternoon or evening appointments. A rare occurrence, sure, but those days happened. You decided to take advantage of it and asked if you could go home early that afternoon. Gary and Dr. Rivera agreed. You figured you’d surprise Bob and take him out for burgers. It had been a while since you all had done that. Hah, he’d be so excited! And then maybe you could ask what was up with him?

A cool fall breeze greeted you as you exited your car. Ah, fall. Slightly scented with the smell of pine. And it helped blow away the smell of stale cigarettes and car exhaust somewhat. Though your front walkway was now littered with pine needles and a few random stray wrappers. You’d have to start sweeping again regularly least you track that stuff into your apartment.

You unlocked the door and opened it calling in, “Surprise! I’m home early!”

Silence.

Hm, where had he run off to now? You heard a noise in your room followed by cursing. Haha, had he fallen asleep on your bed again?

“There you are!” You called cheerfully as you entered your room. “Wanna go… get….burgers…” You trailed off, shocked as you took in the sight in front of you.

Bob stared up at you, his eye sockets completely devoid of light as he was leaned over, seemingly frozen in the process of shoving something under the bed.

No, not something…your journal.

You stared at each other. Had… he been reading your journal? The one thing… THE ONE THING you had asked him not to touch? The silence was broken by your keys hitting the floor.

He flinched and straightened up slowly, tiny pinpricks of light returning to his eye sockets and his mouth stretched into a grimace. He was sweating.

“Uh… I-I… uh…” He stuttered uselessly, seemingly at a loss for what to say for himself.

That.

That was why he was acting so weird around you lately. He had been reading that. How much of it had he read?

“How much did you read?” You said, your icy tone foreign even to yourself.

He swallowed. “I… uh… I c-can explain if…”

“How much did you read?!” You repeated, your voice raising. Great. Your hands were trembling. You clenched them into fists.

“M-most of it,” he nearly whispered, looking at the ground.

You heard him though. You closed your eyes, taking deep, steadying breaths. Most of it. Then he knew. All the thoughts and feelings you didn’t want anyone to know. Toxic thoughts. Bad thoughts. Things that should be locked away. But now they weren’t. He knew. Knew what kind of person you were. Knew about your mom…

It was like a punch to the gut.

You trusted him. So help you, you had let him get too close. Stupid. This is what happens. This is what always happens.

And now he knew. No wonder he looked so worried. He was afraid of you. Could you blame him?

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, looking up at you with teary eyes. “I’m sorry. I…I know I shouldn’t ‘ave… but I wanted to know about you. And once I started reading… I know I shouldn’t… that I should’ve stopped… but… I… I… I was worried. You don’t talk to me…”

You remained silent. This was it. The part where he’d push you away. Ask to leave. Ask you to find him somewhere else to stay.

That was fine. You didn’t need him. Never did. Didn’t need anyone. You wouldn’t cry. Not this time.

He approached you carefully, like you were a wild animal or something, until he stood directly below you, tears welling up in his eye sockets. “Please… don’t give me that look.” He gripped your scrub pant leg. “I’m sorry. I h-had to know. I wanted to help… I’m sorry. Please…”

He looked down as he wiped his eye sockets with the hand not gripping your scrubs. Yeah. He was getting ready to say he wanted a new home. That he had to go. Had to…

“I love you,” he said almost too quietly to hear.

…What?

You looked down at him as he looked up at you, seemingly searching your expression.

No.

You heard him wrong.

“Please… say something. Please talk to me,” he begged, tearing up again and tightening his grip on your scrubs.

No.

Bob was still staring up at you with tiny pupils and teary eyes.

No.

He didn’t mean that… He didn’t actually say that.

He didn’t… It didn’t make any sense.

This…

You couldn’t deal with this right now.

You couldn’t.

With shaky hands, you carefully picked him up and walked to the front door.

It creaked when you opened it, like it always did.

The wind blew more pine needles onto your front walkway.

You could hear the sounds of the freeway in the distance.

Someone coughed a little ways away.

Carefully, you placed Bob on the ground outside. He looked up at you bewildered. His eye sockets widened even as his pupils grew more dim. Tears slid down his cheekbones as you closed him outside and locked the door.

Then, you sagged down against the front door and tried to catch your breath as you held your head in your hands and squeezed your eyes shut. You just needed a minute to think. Process everything. It was too much. Too much.

A familiar voice yelled out curses outside just before you heard a car door slam. That voice…

Your heart dropped into your stomach.

You leapt to your feet, flinging the door open, just in time to see a familiar beat-up old car driving away.

There were drops of blood on the street.

And Bob was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! ^^;;   
> Come fuss at me on [ Tumblr ](http://lywellen.tumblr.com).


	18. Chapter 15.5: Bob POV Mini Chapter, Whoops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks as always for reading (and for the MANY comments, holy cow you all had some um...feelings)! ^~^

**********Bob's POV**********

He’d fucked up. Fucked up badly this time. He didn’t want to hurt you. God, why did he do that?

And then he’d just fuckin’ sniveled and blurted out that he loved you. Fuck. Fuck! He’d really fucked up. He wished he could take it back. Why had he hurt you? And then said something like that to you? As if it would make anything better? As if you really wanted to hear that from him?

And now you wouldn’t talk to him. Didn’t even want him in your home. Part of him thought that was it, you’d wised up and wanted him gone for good.

But he’d seen your temper before, just under the surface as you constantly bottled it back. He knew you’d eventually open that door. He knew…

He heard a cough behind him.

Slowly, he turned around. Your father was standing there, peering down at him…

Bob tensed as he felt the light leave his eye sockets… and his anger boiled over.

Nope.

He couldn’t let your father anywhere near you when you were this upset! He would just hurt you worse than Bob already had!

Bob had to protect you! Your father, that bastard wasn’t allowed anywhere near you!

He snarled, his left eye flaring as he launched himself at Ray, tearing into the flesh of his hand. He didn’t care how small he was! He wouldn’t let your father hurt you no matter what!

Ray tore him from his hand, nearly crushing Bob’s ribs in the process. Bob struggled to catch his breath as he was slammed into something hard and dark, being carried away amidst Ray’s yelling and cursing.

Bob fucked up again.

He’d have laughed at his own stupidity if it weren’t for the growing sense of panic.

Even after reading all those things, guess Bob still didn’t understand how selfish your father really was.

Your father hadn’t come to see you at all.

He was there for Bob.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come hang out with me on the [ Tumblr ](http://lywellen.tumblr.com) page thing.


	19. Chapter 16: Think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the bad news... I lied about the Wednesday chapter. ^^;; 
> 
> The good news is, I lied cause I'm gonna post it now. ^-^ Enjoy!

“The mailbox is full and cannot…”

Angrily, you hung up your phone, having reached that message so many times you’d lost count. It had been an hour! An hour since Bob was kidnapped! Yes, kidnapped though apparently the police didn’t agree. They told you Bitties were considered property. And that this was a robbery, not a kidnapping. And since the perpetrator was no longer on the premises, you would have to file a report with the non-emergency number and… you had hung up. Each of the several times you had tried to call your father you reached that infernal message. Your father wasn’t answering any of the texts you sent. You were getting nowhere. Nothing.

You frantically paced your apartment. Varying between being hysterical and completely numb.

You had to think.

Couldn’t think.

Bob was going to get killed.

No, you wouldn’t let that happen. Think.

You couldn’t lose Bob. You wouldn’t.

You would.

No, you wouldn’t. Couldn’t.

Where was your father staying?

You didn’t know.

He was going to sell Bob back to the company! You didn’t have time for this!

Think.

You couldn’t think.

Why hadn’t you chased after him in your car?

He would have been long gone by the time you went back for your keys.

Why had you put Bob outside in the first place?

You weren’t thinking.

That was no excuse! This was your fault!

Your fault! He was going to die and it was your fault!

No.

No.

No.

This wasn’t helping. You had to do something.

Do something!

You dialed the only other number you could think of…

“Thank you for calling Country Hill Vet Hospital, this is Gary speaking, how may I help you today?”

“He’s gone,” you croaked out, starting to cry again. Oh god, you were a mess.

“Oh I’m so sorry… can I ask who’s… ____? Sweetie, is that you?”

“Y-yes…” you managed to squeak out between sobs.

“Are you at home?”

“Yes.”

“Stay there. I’m on my way.”

“G-Gary no… the hospital… w-what if Dr… Dr. R-Rivera…” Geez, you could’t even speak properly.

“I’m on my way,” he repeated, and hung up.

Ugh, you had to get yourself together. You were now disrupting your coworkers’ lives. Right after being responsible for getting Bob taken. Maybe ending his life.

Your fault.

No, stop it. Wallowing in guilt and sadness wasn’t helping anyone. There had to be something you could do to fix this! For Bob. Get it together, Tiny.

By the time you heard knocking at your front door, you had regained some semblance of getting yourself together. Though you almost lost it again when Gary took one look at you and drew you in, hugging you tight.

“Oh pumpkin, you’re a wreck,” he sighed as he petted the back of your head.

“Dr. Rivera…” You began to ask.

“Miguel and Mary are running the hospital just fine. Still no appointments. Oh honey, Miguel wanted to be here too but he still had some phone calls to make. Come, let’s have a sit. Tell me what happened.”

“Bob’s gone!” You blurted out. “It’s all my fault! I… Ray, my father… he took him! I don’t know where he lives! I didn’t even think to get the license plate number! He’s going to sell him back to the company! They’re going to kill him!” You were starting to become hysterical again.

“Shh, shh. It’s ok. We can figure this out.” Gary was hugging you and petting your head again, as if you were a child. “Ok, so he’s still alive, yes? And you know who has him. That’s good. Very good! We’ll find him for sure!”

He led you over to the couch and sat you down, taking a seat beside you. “Alright, so first thing’s first. Did you call the police?”

“Y-yes,” you took a breath. “Yes. They told me it wasn’t an emergency. That I’ll have to file a report. But that’ll take too long and by the time…”

“Ok. So that’s out. No biggie. Do you know anyone who might know where your father lives?”

You thought about it. About the last time he visited… of course! He said Brian lived just around the corner from you! Gah, why hadn’t you thought of that before? You leapt to your feet. “Brian! He knows my father! He lives right around the corner!”

“There you go! See? We’ll find Bob!” He stood up. “Do you know which apartment this Brian is?”

“Ugh, no. My father just said he ‘lives around the corner.’” Shit, how were you going to find him?

“Alright. That’s ok. We’ll just go knock on doors until we find him. Your apartment complex isn’t that big. Even if we don’t find his right away, someone’s bound to know him.”

“Ok.” Ok, this could work. Sure, your apartment community wasn’t the best, but it was daylight. And you had to find him.

You both set off in opposite directions agreeing to text each other if you found something.

***

Twenty minutes passed. Then thirty. The people who did answer their doors didn’t know a Brian. What if your father had lied about him living there? Why would he lie about something so trivial though?

No, Brian was there. He had to be.

A girl answered her door, opening it partway. You could see she kept the chain on it. She eyed you suspiciously, lifting an eyebrow as she drank her tea… apparently she liked her tea strong as there were several tea flags waving from their strings against the mug.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” you said, repeating the mantra you had used for the other tenants who actually answered their doors, “Does Brian live here? Or do you know a Brian who lives around here? I really need to find him.”

The girl slowly closed the door, saying nothing. Dammit. Another bust. You started to move on to the next apartment when you heard the small chain rattle against the door and it was opened all the way. Oh.

The girl stepped out onto the porch as you stepped back. She pointed at the apartment two doors away from where you were standing. There!

“Thank you so much!” You said breathlessly, waving as you dashed toward the apartment. The girl nodded and retreated back into her apartment.

You probably slammed your fists a little too furiously against Brian’s apartment door. Please be home. Please be home… you heard a latch click! Oh thank god! You recognized the scruffy face that appeared in the doorway as one of your father’s friends who used to visit him when you were a child. He squinted at you before recognition took over his features.

“Hey, it’s Ray’s kid!” He seemed surprised. “Wow, it’s been too long! Didn’t know you remembered me or I would have said hi sooner! How have you…”

You waved a hand, cutting him off. “I’m sorry, but I’m running out of time and I really need to know where my father lives! Please tell me he told you where he’s staying now?”

“O-oh. Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. Here… lemme write down the address for you…” He reached over to the table beside the door, scribbling down an address on an old receipt. “Is Ray in some kinda trouble again? You know, I told him we ain’t so young no more and…”

You snatched the receipt with the address from him. “I’m sorry! I really don’t have time! Thank you so much! Thank you!” You were making a dash back to your car as Brian was left kind of floundering and staring after you.

“Sure, sure…” You heard him say. You quickly plugged the address into your phone as you ran back to your car. This wasn’t very far from where you lived… the navigator said 20 minutes.

Almost three hours since Bob had been taken. The sun was starting to set and with it, the temperature was dropping. If you were lucky, your father decided to wait until the next day to try to sell Bob back to the company. Worst came to worst, you’d find out where your father brought Bob and try to buy him back… though you didn’t have $10,000. You had saved up some for school, but not nearly that much. You could borrow money. As much as you didn’t want to, but this was an emergency. Maybe Gary… crap! You forgot to call him! As you drove, you hit the button to dial his number.

“Where are you?” He answered on the first ring.

“I’m sorry! I found Brian! I’m on my way to…” You glanced at the paper, giving him the address.

“It’s ok sweetie. I’ll meet you there. Drive safely please!”

You hung up the phone, bringing the navigator back up, hoping you weren’t too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ Tumblr McTumblrson ](http://lywellen.tumblr.com)


	20. Chapter 16.5: Bob's POV Mini-Chapter, Things And What They Seem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Not a very happy mini-chapter. ^^;;

**********Bob's POV**********

He scrambled at the lid of his airtight container uselessly.

He was trapped.

Couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t get out.

He must have started panicking ‘cause he didn’t remember the time from when he was shut in there to the time the lid opened again.

But when it did… he recognized the logo and uniform of the person reaching for him with gloved hands. Gloves that can’t be bitten through. Heh, he didn’t even try. He knew he was gonna be dead. Dust.

Strange he was actually calm about the whole thing as the Utaugen employee lifted him from his container.

All he could think about was you… would you miss him? Would you be better off now that you didn’t have him to care for anymore?

He wanted you to be happy. He wanted you to actually be able to attend school, move into a better neighborhood, find more people you were willing to trust. Maybe people you were willing to love even.

You were the first person who showed any care toward him whatsoever. The first one to even treat him like he was alive… and then treat him like an equal. Even when he acted like an ass and pissed you off. Sure, you hid behind insults and sarcasm. But it was obvious you cared. He didn’t… still didn’t understand why. Heh, was it any real surprise he loved you?

But it didn’t matter. You had nothing to gain from it. Nothing.

He couldn’t do anything for you now. Never really could.

Bob closed his eyes as a gloved hand held up a device over his skull.

In his last moments of consciousness, he knew you would come to realize you were better off without him.

Yeah, you’d be ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be out Tuesday or Wednesday.
> 
> Tumblr, For your random post/vague foreshadowing/asking questions needs.


	21. Chapter 17: Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finished this early yet again and figured you'd want it sooner rather than later... Haha, this won't be an all the time occurrence. Oh, and it's kind of a short chapter.

Your father wasn’t joking when he said your place was nice compared to where he lived. Turns out he lived in an old run-down motel. Half of the main front sign looked like it had been destroyed and chunks of the plastic were missing. There was graffiti covering most of the cracked brick walls. Beer cans, busted lawn furniture, and various trash littered the walkways. The roof was missing whole patches of shingles. Some of the windows were broken. You were surprised the place wasn’t already condemned.

You quickly parked and an old man sitting on the curb watched you curiously, his bleary red eyes swimming in his sockets. He smiled at you and he was missing some teeth. You hurried past him, knocking on the door that was supposed to belong to your father. But there was no answer.  That was definitely his car parked out front though. You knocked harder and the door squeaked open.

It was dark inside the motel room. You about gagged as the smell of mildew and garbage assaulted your nostrils. You flipped the light switch on the wall and the light flickered before it turned on with an audible hum.

The place was an utter disaster! The floor was covered in pizza boxes and various empty alcohol containers… and there were definitely some kind of insects moving in there. The wallpaper was peeling in places, there were cracks along the walls and the ceiling, and it looked like actual mold or mildew was growing in some of the corners.

The furniture consisted of an unmade bed, a dusty old red sofa, and a dresser covered in trash and papers. Though at the corner sat a lidded tupperware container, looking out of place.

Bob might be in there…

Deciding you didn’t care about breaking and entering, or the bugs, you carefully picked your way over the garbage to approach the container. Just as you made a grab for it, you heard footsteps approaching the open front doorway.

“Woah, hey!” Your father paused holding his hands up as you grabbed the container and whipped around to glare at him. In one of his hands was a brown paper bag, and the other hand had a large makeshift bandage over the area between his thumb and pointer. He was wearing the shirt of one of the local pizza joints. He blinked and relaxed, dropping his hands. “Oh… well if it isn’t my child! Come to visit your old…”

“Don’t even start that shit,” you hissed at him, turning your attention back to the container and frantically pulling at the lid, hoping against hope Bob was in there. Finally, with a pop, the lid came off.

You dropped the container, horrified and gagging.

It was full of old, moldy… you didn’t even know what it used to be.

“Where is he?” you asked as you frantically scanned the room, looking for any sort of container that might be Bob-sized.

“Where’s who?” He asked unconvincingly, feigning innocence. Scratching at his chest with one hand while holding the paper bag in the other…

That bag…

“Hey!” Ray yelped as you snatched the bag away from him, reaching in to find yet another tupperware container.

Relief flooded you as you tore off the lid and you saw Bob laying in the bottom but… your relief turned back to cold dread as you realized Bob wasn’t moving.

“Bob? Hey…” You gently scooped him out, dropping the container to the floor. He was completely limp and ice cold. Like literally ice cold. Ignoring the growing numbing pain in your hand, you tried petting his skull and nudging his shoulder. You turned him around, lifting his shirt and checking him all over for injuries. There weren’t any. He still wasn’t moving. Why was he so cold? “Bob?”

“Oh, was that _your_ Edgy Bitty? Gosh, I didn’t realize. I found it outside and…”

“What did you do to him?” You practically yelled at your father, fighting back tears as you held Bob to your chest. He was too cold. Was he dead? No, no no. He couldn’t be… he couldn’t.

“Hey now! I didn’t do nothin’! Company wouldn’t pay no money for it anyhow! The guy who scanned its chip thing seemed real confused and went to get a manager. Said he needed to take it to the back and tried to take it from me but I grabbed it and left before he could and…”

“Shut up!” You screamed at him. “You tried to have him killed! For money! You knew I cared about him but you just took him away! All for money! You selfish prick! Murderer!”

He backed up wide-eyed, and put up his hands. “Hey now! Calm down child! You don’t mean it! Hey, why doncha take a few steps back now, alright? I… I don’t wanna hurt ya!”

“Oh, it’s too late for that. Much too late for that.” You barked out a humorless laugh, still approaching him, one hand holding Bob to you and the other hand clenching into a fist.

You didn’t know if you would have actually hit your father. You never got to find out. Because one more step back had your father bumping into Gary’s chest. Your father stared up at the stern-looking older man frowning down at him.

“You’re the father I presume?” Gary said. “I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, but we’d both know that would be a lie.”

Ray started to come up with some excuse again as Gary said something back, but you stopped listening, your attention turned back to Bob. He was freezing. Your hand was growing numb and you could feel the cold seeping through your scrub top. Bob... he couldn't be dead... right?  When they died they turned to dust... He wasn't dust.  Why wasn't he breathing?

But as you watched, you could see him faintly breathing. He was definitely breathing. He was alive. Oh thank the stars, he was alive. But he could still die. You had to get him to wake up…

“Bob?” You tried again, gently rubbing the side of his face with your finger as you cradled him. “Please, please wake up. Please? I’m sorry… Please be ok.”

You could hear your father and Gary arguing about something in the background. But none of that mattered. Bob… he had to wake up. He had to…

Wait… was it your hopeful imagination or was Bob’s breathing getting a little stronger? No, he definitely took a deeper breath there.

And then, his face scrunched as he slowly opened his eyes, the little lights in them hazy and dull but there, focusing on you.

“Hey.” You smiled even as your voice cracked.  “A-are you ok? No… of course not. Stupid question.” You grimaced as he continued to watch you, his face expressionless.

He was staring at you, but still wasn’t moving. Looking almost confused. Was he really conscious? Was he actually ok?

“Are you here? Can you hear me?” You asked, searching his face for some sign of understanding.

He continued to watch you, blinking as the lights in his eyes became less hazy and more focused into two sharp points of light. He blinked one final time before his eye sockets widened, tears forming along the edges. He reached out a hand toward you.

You held his little hand with your finger and thumb. “It’s ok. I’ve got you. It’s ok now… I’m so sorry… but you’re ok now. We’re going home. It’s going to be ok. I’m sorry…”  You were babbling.

He started trembling all over and hiccuped as tears streamed down the sides of his face. You held him to your chest as he clutched at your scrub top and quietly cried into you. You whispered how sorry you were over and over again not knowing what else to say as you held him and stroked the back of his skull. Feeling awful but at the same time so relieved. He was going to be ok. You weren’t too late. He was ok.

You soon felt a strong arm gently hug you and you looked up into Gary’s face, feeling your own tears falling. He wiped your face with a handkerchief and pressed it into your free hand as he steered you back toward the front door.

As you passed your father, you paused, meeting his eyes.

“It wasn’t just for money ya know,” he said. “I was gonna use the money to get my life together… try and be a better dad? I miss you. You’re my only family, ya know? I love you…”

“I never want to see you again,” you choked at him, glaring through the tears. “Never.”

He opened his mouth like he would say something else and then closed it, squinting at the ground and scratching his shoulder.

You and Gary left his motel room and the door shut behind you.

“I’m going to drive you back to your apartment with your car. Miguel and I will come back later for my car. Your keys, if you please?” Gary said, reaching out a hand.

You didn’t argue. Bob was still clutched to your chest, seemingly oblivious to everything around him. At least he was starting to feel a little less cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There now, ya see? I'm not a COMPLETELY horrible person... not completely... Ehehe ^^;; 
> 
> Thanks for hanging in there and for sticking with this weird little story thus far. You are awesome and I love you all! ^-^
> 
>  
> 
> [ Tumblr Link ](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com)


	22. Chapter 17.5: Bob's POV Mini Chapter, Love V 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugggh, you all can have this mini chapter. Get it away from me! XP 
> 
> Haha, anyway, hope you all have a super spoopy Halloween!

**********Bob’s POV**********

  
He thought he had died.

And that perhaps there was a heaven after all or something…

Because when he came to, the first thing he saw was you.

But if it was heaven… it wasn’t quite right.

You shouldn’t be crying…

Then he realized, he was breathing.

He was still alive.

And you were actually there. You came and found him. And even through the tears, the look you gave him when he reached for you and you grabbed his hand… How could you even look at him like that? Like he was something precious and irreplaceable to you?

Then you were hugging him and talking to him. Apologizing or some mess, like any of this was even your fault.

You shouldn’t be the one apologizing. He wanted to tell you that, tell you he should be the one apologizing.

Tell you how happy he was you were there.

Tell you something!

Anything!

But his voice and body wouldn’t cooperate. All he could do was clutch at you and be a useless, sobbing mess.


	23. Chapter 18: Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all had an amazing Halloween (for those who celebrate) and ate lots of candy! 
> 
> Here's a longer chapter for you all. No mini-chapter this weekend. ^^;; (Got some adulting to do. That and seeing Doctor Strange, ah yeah!)
> 
> As always, thank you all so much for reading! ^-^

Dr. Rivera was waiting for you all at the apartment when you got back. You went to apologize for disrupting the work day but Dr. Rivera waved you off and told you to take a day off tomorrow. You went to protest but he insisted, saying you wouldn’t be much use to the hospital in your state anyway. Gary may have nudged him and gave him a look. Though you agreed with Dr. Rivera. You had already made enough of a scene. No need to do the same at the hospital. Besides, you didn’t want to leave Bob alone until you knew he was ok. Taking a day off was a good idea… even if it would mean a little less money in your paycheck.

Dr. Rivera and Gary left as soon as they made sure you got into your apartment safely, saying they didn’t want to leave Gary’s car at that motel for longer than necessary. You didn’t blame them. And you felt bad that you had put them out so much.

Bob hadn’t moved the entire time, his face still buried in your scrub top and his hands still tightly clutching at the fabric as you held him. While no longer freezing, he still felt a little too cold to you. Was he really going to be ok?

You kept holding him as you made your way to your room, catching sight of your stupid journal poking out from under the bed. You gave it a disgusted look and kicked it, sending it skidding the rest of the way under the bed and out of sight. Flopping down on the mattress while still keeping a hold of Bob, you used your free hand to rub at your eyes and forehead.

“Hey,” you said.

Still no response from Bob besides him adjusting his position against your hand, alerting you that he was still awake.

“Bad day?” You asked quietly.

He actually snorted at the understatement.

“Yeah,” you agreed. “Me too.”

You let out a sigh. “Bad day.”

He tightened his grip on your scrub top but didn’t say anything. You took that as your cue to continue.

“I know no amount of apologizing will ever fix this… but I am sorry. I’m so sorry.” You were starting to tear up again. “Today was one of the worst days of my life. I almost lost you and… Do you have any idea how important you are to me? I can’t lose you! I…” You wiped at your face with your free hand. “Ugh, I’m a mess. Having you gone… I was so scared I’d never see you again. I’m sorry. I know you must have been terrified and here I am going on about my own hurt. You deserve better than that! I messed up! You deserve better…”

“Stop,” Bob said, his voice weak and muffled by your top. He looked up at you with dim pupils. “Stop. N-n…ot…y..your…” His voice sounded kind of crackly, like he was having trouble making sounds. He grimaced and shook his head.

“You don’t have to talk,” you said. “I know what you’re trying to say. But you’re wrong. It is my fault. You were just worried about me. Then you… you said you… and I… I panicked. But I didn’t want you to leave! I never intended to kick you out… I would have let you back inside! I panicked… I don’t know why I… I didn’t know my father was out there! I’m sorry. I didn’t want any of this to happen! I’m so sorry…” You wiped at your wet face again.

He was shaking his head at you and seemingly trying to speak again. He was obviously struggling, looking frustrated and pulling at the collar of his shirt like that would help.

“Bob, stop. I’m sorry.” He cut his eyes at you and went to try to talk again. “Gah! Ok, no, please, stop trying to talk! We can talk about… stuff when you’re feeling better. Ok?”

He nodded, sighing and closing his eye sockets as he rested his face back against you.

You all lay in silence for a bit, you rubbing his back with your thumb. You could feel the tiny ridges of his vertebrae through his shirt… so small. Fragile. Sometimes you forgot how fragile he was. God, you had really messed up.

The apartment was silent save for the usual drone of the freeway behind the complex and the shouting of the neighbors two doors down. It was getting late. And you hadn’t eaten all day. You weren’t hungry. But Bob might be.

“Do you want something? Water? Food?” You asked.

He shook his head.

“Sleep?” 

Nod.

“Ok… want me to pretend not to notice while you sleep on me like we do sometimes?”

For a while he didn’t respond. Then a slow nod.

That night you slept in your scrubs (well, you drifted in and out of consciousness anyway) as Bob didn’t want to let go and you really didn’t want to put him down.

Neither one of you slept well. You kept waking up to frantically make sure he was still there.

He seemed to be doing the same thing as you kept waking up to glowing red eyes and little skeletal hands touching your face.

**********Bob’s POV**********

Bob didn’t sleep much that night.

But when he did, he dreamed about the past.

Disjointed images played out of people in lab coats standing over him. Other Bitties staring blankly as they were being dressed. Him being packaged in this container that limited his movement but wasn’t uncomfortable. Physically anyway. He hated being trapped. Then darkness.

Save for the red glow.

His own eyes.

The rumbling of an engine.

Fear.

The scene shifted.

He was in a big container with clear walls that allowed people to peek in at him and two other Edgy Bitties. One Edgy sat in the corner and just growled at anyone who tried to approach. The other grinned a lot and would say things like, “Food now!” when fed and greeted any person that approached with a, “What lookin’ at?”. The rest of whatever he said was mostly gibberish. Bob only knew him for about a week before he was bought.

Bob didn’t talk to people. Not even the store employees who seemed so fascinated with his kind.

There were Sansy and Pappy Bitties caged on the shelf above him. They were bought and replaced more often than the Edgies.

The store employees’ fascination waned as the weeks went on. He wondered if the people who eventually bought him would be the same… would they eventually lose interest? What would happen to him then?

The scene shifted.

Growly was nudging him awake with the tip of his boot.

“Da fuck you want?” Bob grumbled up at him.

Growly grinned down at him and held up a paper clip.

“Great. Ya found a new toy,” Bob said sarcastically. “I’m goin’ back to sleep.” He rolled over earning him an actual kick to the shoulder.

“Goddammit! Cut it out!” Bob snarled, leaping to his feet, facing his tankmate.

Growly grinned again pointing at the paperclip and then pointing at the latch on the cage through a small hole, just out of reach… Huh.

The scene shifted again.

Bob was drenched. Cold. And running as best he could, pain shooting through his broken leg as he hopped and jarred it, slipping in the mud along the way.

No. No, he didn’t want to be here.

What was he doing? He had to go back! He had to help the others!

There were men looking for him with flashlights. Shouting to each other. He was afraid. He had to keep running. If those men caught him…

No. Not this… this was just a dream! He didn’t want to be here again. He had to wake up…

He could hear the screams of other Bitties behind him. See the flashes of those machines in the distance. The smell of ozone and dust permeated the air. He kept running…

WAKE UP!

And then he was back in the room, gasping for air.

Your room.

You were snoring under him.

He was safe. Warm.

That’s right.

You had gone out and found him. Brought him back with you.

Home. He was home.

He reached up and touched your face, checking to make sure you were actually there. Making sure you were real.

Yeah, you were real. This was real. This wasn’t a dream.

Ok. He let out a shaky breath, wiping sweat from his skull. Ok.

**********Your POV**********

Guilt. That was your prevailing feeling the next morning, after having plenty of time to think once the panic and sheer adrenaline from the previous night wore off.

It didn’t help matters that Bob still wasn’t talking that morning, even after eating breakfast. Actually, he didn’t seem to have the energy or inclination to move around much at all. He stayed put in the blanket cocoon you made for him on the bed while you showered, did the rest of your morning stuff, and dressed. Truthfully, you couldn’t really come up with anything to say either. What else could you say?

He was obviously having some lasting physical and emotional effects from his ordeal. He was frowning, and kept watching you carefully. You wondered if maybe he was angry at you… maybe afraid of you? Maybe he hated you after all? But he wasn’t fighting you on being carried around. Perhaps he was being this complacent because he was afraid you’d throw him out again? Still, he didn’t seem to want to move around on his own. And he wasn’t flinching or anything when you reached for him. You’d carry him around all day if that would make him happy. If that would help him feel better…

God, you felt awful. Your eyes were still all red and puffy from crying the night before. You couldn’t stop thinking about how Bob might be permanently damaged because of how you had acted. How your coworkers’ lives were disrupted just because you were too weak to fix your own mistakes by yourself. How you had told your father off, even though you knew he had issues… and how you just couldn’t bring yourself to forgive him this time. This was why you shouldn’t have ever let anyone get close to you. It hurt. You hurt them too. This was your fault.

You bit the inside of your cheek. You wouldn’t cry again. Even when you found the words or courage to actually talk things through with Bob. Find a proper way to apologize to replace your stuttered, blubbered apology from the night before. Even though that meant you’d have to talk about feelings or whatever. Ugh. Feelings should stay buried deep down where they belong.

You sat down on the couch and sat Bob on the blankets beside you, figuring he wanted distance. He frowned up at you. You turned on some cartoons. Jeez, he was still looking over and frowning at you now and again out of the corner of his eye sockets. Guess he was mad at you after all now that he’d had some time to think things through? You didn’t blame him.

Neither one of you were really watching whatever was on.

Well, might as well get this over with.

After figuring out what you wanted to say exactly, you took a breath and turned to face him. “So… I know nothing I say will ever make any of this better. But I want you to know how sorry I am. I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, but I am sorry. If there is anything I can do…”

“Argh, enough of this!” He yelled, surprising you.

On the bright side, he had recovered the use of speech… and growling. He was now growling at you. Not exactly the response you had expected. But not undeserved. He angrily kicked the blankets away and stood up, glaring up at you.

“Are… are you ok?” you asked.

“Am I ok?” He scoffed. “Am I ok, ya ask. You had to come rescue me like I was some sort of helpless… fucking… damsel in distress! And now you’re constantly on the verge of tears and keep giving me these guilty looks and apologizin’ to me over and over again when it was MY fault for starting all this in the first place! I was the one who messed up! I was the one who betrayed your trust and just completely did the fuckin’ thing you told me not to do! I was the one who stupidly thought I could take on your father like I’m some… some giant fucking boss and I’m not! I know I’m not! And because of all that, YOU had to suffer for it and fix the mess I made and YOU still somehow think this is all your fault when it’s not! So no, I’m not ok.” Bob finished his rant panting, his hands clenched into fists beside him.

You blinked. “That’s why you’re upset? Because you think… Bob, no. This is in no way your fault at all! You… you almost died! All because instead of talking to you like a normal, sane, adult, I threw you outside! I’m s…”

“Argh! I swear, if you apologize to me one more time!” He cut you off, glaring and clenching his teeth, “Just one more time! I’ll…”

“You’ll what? Move out?” You barked back at him. “You want to leave now, don’t you? Now that you know what kind of person I am? Go ahead!” You looked away from his softening expression, lowering your voice. “I… I don’t blame you. I could help you find somewhere safe…”

There was silence between you all for a while, filled only by the ending credits to whatever show you were supposed to be watching.

“You’re… afraid I wanna leave?”

You didn’t answer.

Bob rubbed a hand down his face, groaning. “Seriously? You’re stupid. I love ya, but you’re stupid.”

“Stop saying that!”

“What? That you’re stupid? Because right now, ya are! You’re being stupid! I don’t wanna leave ya! Stupid!”

He studied your expression, squinting and tilting his head. “Wait a minute… that’s not it. Is… is it the fact that I love ya?”

You must have made a face just then because recognition lit up Bob’s expression. “Oh my god! That’s what it is, isn’t it? I get it. I love you! Scares ya, doesn’t it?”

“Stop it! You don’t know what you’re saying!”

“Oh please! You don’t suddenly get to decide that I don’t understand feelings when you’ve been arguin’ to others the whole time I do! You know I do!” He rubbed a hand over the top of his skull letting out a frustrated noise. He called your actual name.

You couldn’t look at him.

He called your name again. “Hey, look at me.”

You didn’t.

“Fine then, listen. I’ve known what kinda person you are. Your past and whatever ya wrote about yourself in some book doesn’t change that. You’re strong. Stubborn. Funny. You suck at video games.”

You looked down at him and he grinned before you looked away again.

“Heh, and you’re guarded. And ya got a temper. I get that. Trust me, I get it. But above all else, you’re kind. You’re a good person, whether ya realize it or not. Everyone has bad thoughts sometimes… everyone. Bad thoughts doesn’t make ya a bad person. What happened… I know ya didn’t mean any of it. You were angry. Afraid. Ya had every right to be. I get it. I’ve been there. It’s… difficult to let others get close. ‘Specially when the ones closest to ya are able to hurt ya the most…” He paused. From the sound of it he was rubbing the back of his neck. You still weren’t looking at him. “I’m sorry,” he added quietly.

There was silence again filled by the mindless chatter of commercials.

You felt like you should say something, but didn’t know how to respond to any of what Bob had said. You’d messed up so badly and here he was trying to reassure you, saying kind things to you. Saying things like… like he loved you and junk. He couldn’t mean that. That word, did you really even understand it? Only one other person ever said that to you, and how had he treated you? You didn’t trust love. Bob didn’t mean it like that though. You knew that. He was trying to console you. He didn’t have to say all that to try to make you feel better. Weren’t you supposed to be the one consoling him?

“Welp,” he continued, breaking the silence, “How ‘bout this? We both agree that we both messed up and you accept my apology and I accept yours. Sound good?”

“…ok,” you said, finally looking over at him.

He grinned up at you again. “Also, I’m not leavin’. Heh, ‘cause I’d be so bonely without ya.”

“Ugh, really?” You groaned, scrunching your face and trying not to smile at the overused and horrible pun.  
  
“Yeah, really.” He chuckled and climbed up onto your lap. “Deal with it.” He buried his face into your side as he hugged you as best he could.

“Weirdo.” You looked down at him, smiling a little.

“Heh, maybe… but I do mean it… what I said before.” His voice was muffled.

You reached down to scratch the top of his skull with your finger.

He made a happy noise and gripped at you harder. He was back to being a tiny little furnace. Silly.

You were just happy to have him back. More than happy. When you thought you’d never see him again… it was like something was physically ripped out of your chest. It hurt.

But he was ok. Even after everything horrible that happened. He really didn’t make any sense. You wondered if he was really ok… if you were really ok.

“Hey…” you hesitated, dropping your hand.

“Hm?” he said, his voice still muffled by his face pressed into your side.

“Are… we really ok? After all that?”

Bob sighed into you, not answering right away. Then, “If you’re askin’ if I’m mad at ya or have bad feelings toward ya or something, no. I don’t. As far as bein’ ok… I think we will be.”

You hoped he was right.

**********Bob’s POV**********

No, he wasn’t ok.

Not that he blamed you at all for anything that happened. None of this was your fault.

It was his.

He hurt you when he wanted to protect you.

And while you cared about him…

You didn’t love him.

Not like he loved you.

The fact that he loved you… it really did scare you.

That wasn’t your fault either.

What he felt for you… was wrong. Weird. Not right. Not good for you…

He could bury his stupid feelings. For your sake.

It was enough for him to have you care. To need him around.

He wasn’t ok, but he would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The [ Tumblr ](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com) link.


	24. Chapter 19: POV

“Argh, do we really haveta have both of them over?” Bob complained for the billionth time, pouting grumpily from his usual corner on the countertop.

“Yes, we do,” you said as you tried to concentrate on both the cookbook and the boiling pot in front of you.

You decided the best way to thank your coworkers for having your back the other day was a home-cooked meal. Well, Gary and Dr. Rivera anyway since Mary had her kid and didn’t want to bring her to your neighborhood (not that you could really blame her). That, and you figured seeing your coworkers again that weekend would make things less awkward come Monday. Since the last time they saw you, you were a crying mess and all. Ugh.

So yeah, you were going to make food. Food that wasn’t ramen or rice and beans. Never mind that’s all you really knew how to cook. But that’s what cookbooks were for! You had found an old cookbook with what looked to be a great soup recipe at the local thrift store. The soup in the recipe looked amazing! How hard could it be to to cook soup?

Well… too bad the thing used weird terms like “julienne” and “reduce.” Just how much was a pinch of salt anyway? Ugh, you would have looked it all up online but you really had to get this done before they came over and you didn’t have much time!

Bob grumbled something incoherently under his breath.

“Huh?” you asked as you poured a good amount of salt into the boiling pot.

“Nothin’. I said yay, can’t wait until Gary and Dr. Gutter… I mean Rivera get here.” He forced a toothy smile. It really wasn’t that convincing.

You cut him a look as you cranked the heat under the pot. Ugh, they were due over soon and you really needed this to cook faster! You stirred the soup vigorously, trying to tame it as it threatened to boil over.

“Hey, um… ya might wanna check on those rolls…” Bob said uneasily as… crap! There was smoke coming from the oven!

You cursed as you flung open the door, and yup, those rolls were definitely charred around the edges.

The pot above you hissed as some of the soup splattered onto the stove top. Crap! But Bob was already turning the knob to lower the heat as you set the roll tray on the pad on the counter and blew on the soup.

Well… at least the soup wasn’t looking too bad. Maybe dinner wouldn’t be a complete disaster…

“You’re fretting,” Bob noted as you continued to stir the soup before turning your attention back to the rolls.

“I’m not,” you lied.

“Yeah ya are. Just scrape off the burnt parts, the rolls’ll be fine.”

Ugh, the rolls were sticking to the pan as you angrily huffed and dug at them with your spatula.

Bob was looking up at you with amusement in his eyes. “Relax, it’s just your coworkers. No need ta be all soup-er fancy or anything.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… wait… Did you just make a friggin’ pun?! What’s with all the puns lately? I thought you hated puns!” You tried to look shocked, but ended up failing to hide a smile.

“Heh, maybe. But you like ‘em.” He looked down away from you, blushing slightly. “And I like makin’ ya smile.”

“You do, huh? Then go change your shirt before our guests get here. You got mustard all over it again. Clean shirts make me smile.” You pointed the spatula toward the other room, motioning him to go.

He hesitated, giving you that weird look he did sometimes and then frowned, looking down at his shirt.

“Ok,” he said quietly, still frowning and clenching his jaw as he hopped off the counter to head to the other room.

You sighed, rubbing your face before returning to the task of scraping the burnt parts off the cooling rolls. Bob had been weird since “that really bad day” (as you and Bob were calling it). He had been sleeping on your pillow or more often than not, you. He wasn’t even trying to be sneaky about it now. And because he wanted to and you wanted him to feel better, you didn’t fight him on it. Though you were worried about accidentally rolling over and squishing him in your sleep. Luckily, that hadn’t happened thus far.

And he kept giving you odd compliments and saying stuff like today, like he liked seeing you smile. You figured maybe he was still recovering from his ordeal, and this was his way of doing it. By being clingier than usual and by being extra nice to you. Ugh, he really didn’t have to. You hoped he wasn’t still a little nervous you’d kick him out. He just needed time. God, it had only been a few days.

Two sharp knocks on your front door broke you from your contemplations. Crap! They were here already!

“Coming!” you called, hurriedly brushing the crumbs from your hands.

**********Bob’s POV**********

Stupid, stupid. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d weirded you out. He was weirding you out again. “I like makin’ ya smile.” Argh, something like that… he had to be careful about statements like that. You always acted weird when he said cheesy shit like that. He knew that, and had been trying to be careful about it. But today he’d slipped. Probably because he hadn’t been sleeping particularly well, what with being woken up by nightmares. Not that you knew about them. He didn’t want you to be bothered by it… by him. Argh, get it together Bob.

“Coming!” you called from the other room.

Shit, they were early! Bob quickly wrestled his arms into a fresh shirt, fighting to untangle the bottom hem that had become caught up in one of his scapulas. He skidded to a stop in the front room (thankfully not falling) as Gary hugged you and Dr. Jackass gave you a smile and curt nod.

“Hey Bob the Bitty!” Gary greeted, waving at him over your shoulder. “Glad to hear you’re feeling better!”

Bob smiled up at him and nodded, feeling kinda awkward with everyone towering over him. You turned around noticing, and offered your hand so Bob could climb on your shoulder. Putting Bob at eye-level with everyone. That was better.

Gary continued to chat with you as Bob caught Dr. Asshat glancing at him, his brow furrowed. Bob stared right back at him and covertly scratched at one of his eye sockets with his middle finger. The doctor’s frown deepened.

“Anyway,” you continued, luckily not noticing the exchange that just took place, “Dinner’s almost ready. We could eat at the table, or the den, or wherever you guys wanna eat.”

“Wherever is fine, sweetie!” Gary said as he smiled down at you. “Need any help?”

“No thanks, I’ve got it. Bob, wanna go show them to the den?” you asked.

Seriously? It was like three steps off the kitchen! You cut your eyes at him subtly and he got the message. Yeah yeah, you were trying to be a good host which meant Bob had to too. Argh, fine.

“Ok,” he said, hopping down to the floor as the two men cringed and you didn’t notice. Heh, right. They probably thought the fall would break him or somethin’. He was tempted to make a show of it but knew you’d get mad, so he just grinned and motioned for them to follow.

“Right. So, uh, there’s the sofa. Remote’s on the table if ya wanna watch TV…” Bob glanced back at the kitchen, wondering if he could sneak back over to you.

“I thought we might have a chat instead,” Dr. Squirrelfart said, patting the table in front of him as if he were calling a dog to come sit. What the hell?

“Miguel, we talked about this,” Gary warned quietly. “Times and places, remember? Hmm?”

“Yes, quite. I remember. Thank you. Bob?” he looked down at Bob, lifting a brow behind his glasses.

Bob remained where he stood on the floor, folding his arms over his chest. “Yeah? I’m listenin.’”

**********Your POV**********

Ah man, maybe having people over this weekend was too soon for Bob after everything that happened. Were you pushing him too hard? You probably were. But he seemed ok… And you thought having friends over might be good. Well, you knew he liked Gary well enough. And you couldn’t just invite only Gary over. That would have been rude.

Though from the sounds of it, Bob, Gary and Dr. Rivera were talking quietly in the den. Hm. Seemed things were going well after all. Good. Maybe you were just worrying for nothing.

You put the (scraped up) rolls on a plate with some butter and served the soup into 3 bowls and one tiny plastic bowl you had found for Bob along with a tiny spoon. You had actually managed to save up and buy an entire set of tiny plastic cups, plates, bowls, and utensils. Hah, Bob hadn’t seen this yet. Hopefully, he’d like them more than the cut dixie cups he'd been using.

**********Bob’s POV**********

Welp, this was no surprise. Still, Bob hadn’t expected Dr. Squeaky Grocery Cart to just out and say it. Gary was was sighing into his face-palm.

“Say that again. Didn’t quite catch it,” Bob said, a smirk slowly spreading across his face.

“I said I don’t like you,” Dr. Clown Shoes repeated, pushing his glasses up his nose as he stared down at Bob. “And I know you don’t like me either.”

“Huh. Whadda ya know. Maybe you’re not as stupid as I thought,” Bob said.

“Miguel, hun…” Gary started but the doctor put a hand on his arm, silencing him.

“I’m not finished,” Dr. Dingus said. “While I may not like you, I acquiesce the fact that you are sentient. And that you are important to… some of us.” He looked toward the kitchen briefly where the sounds of you taking out bowls could be heard. He cleared his throat. “That person is very important to me too,” he said nodding toward the kitchen. He leaned forward, towering over Bob. “For that reason, I would like you to know, I will be watching you. If I ever hear about you pulling a stunt like Thursday’s again, I will…”

Dr. Sweat Stain leaned back quickly, cutting himself off and smiling as you entered the den. Somehow you were balancing a plate of rolls and three bowls. Gary leapt up to help. Bob narrowed his eyes at the doctor, who was currently ignoring Bob in favor of taking one of his bowls from Gary. Luckily you were too busy handing out bowls and heading back to the kitchen to get drinks to notice anything was wrong.

As soon as you were out of earshot, Bob turned to Dr. Halitosis and said, “Yeah? I’d like to see ya try anything! Talking like you’re so close to Tiny. I’m the one who’s here every day! You’re just a tyrant of a boss with no sense of humor the way I hear it. Do ya really think…”

“Alright, enough of this,” Gary hissed at both Bob and the doctor. “Both of you! Goodness. This is supposed to be a nice evening amongst friends! Behave.”

“What was that?” You asked as you returned with some cups and a pitcher of lemonade.

“I said lemonade is my fave’!” Gary exclaimed as he once again helped you dole out the cups.

Bob jumped up onto the coffee table, fuming as the doctor pushed his glasses up again frowning. Oh, it was on now! If Dr. Elderberry thinks he can just come into Bob and Tiny’s home and…

Wait.

That bowl, cup and spoon you just set down… they were just the right size for Bob. When had you gotten this… just for him? You found this just for him? You were always getting him clothes and stuff. But this… he didn’t even know stuff like this existed. This had to have been before everything that went down on “that really bad day” that you got this stuff. You were smiling down at whatever expression he was making. This was amazing… you were amazing.

Argh, what kind of face had he been making? You were giving him a weird look.

**********Your POV**********

Bob was giving you that weird look again. But he seemed super happy about the Bob-sized dishes and utensils. Go you! You went to get a kitchen chair for yourself and situated it on the other side of the coffee table, facing Dr. Rivera and Gary. Bob sat on the table on your side, already digging into his soup and blushing slightly as he fiddled with the spoon. Didn’t take him long to get the hang of it. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the soup and rolls. You took a bite. Hm… maybe the soup was a tad bit salty. But no one seemed to be complaining about the taste.

**********Bob’s POV**********

The taste of dinner as a whole was… indescribable. You were never really the best of cooks. Though of course, he would never tell you that. But this meal… heh, you’d definitely made better. The soup was saltier than the expression Gary was trying to hide behind a forced smile. Dr…. shit, Bob had run out of mental nicknames for him. Anyway, that doctor’s expression was as stoic as ever as he ate. Bob eyed him as he quickly finished his soup.

“Can I have seconds?” Bob asked you, as he briefly cut his eyes at the ever frowning doctor.

“Sure thing!” You exclaimed happily, jumping up to refill his bowl.

Oh, Bob was gonna prove he was closer to ya than that pompous ass of a doctor. He was just happy you hadn’t noticed he and the doctor’s silent war…

**********Your POV**********

Of course you noticed Bob and Dr. Rivera weren’t getting along. Did they really think you were blind? Ugh, so much for not worrying. After getting Bob’s soup refill (which involved chopping the ingredients in the pot even finer to make them fit in his bowl), you’d make sure not to leave them alone again. You really hoped Gary was at least keeping the peace somewhat.

**********Gary’s POV**********

_Why me?_ Gary thought, as Bob and Miguel were engaged in their glaring war with each other again. Gary calmly tried to finish his soup. It was saltier than Bob and Miguel’s attitudes toward each other. But you had worked so hard and Gary would not let your work go to waste.

Miguel could be so immature sometimes. He was very emotional like that (though few knew, since he hid it so well). And here Gary was, trying to calmly ignore them, hoping he wouldn’t have to be the adult of the group and intervene again.

Good lord, they were acting like children! And here you and Bob had had just an awful experience recently and were trying to normalize again. And when was the last time you had he and Miguel over? It was so rare to have you open up to anyone. This just wouldn’t do.

Gary nudged Miguel again, giving him the look, trying to silently convey that he needed to stop acting like an immature ass. Miguel’s eye twitched and he pushed his glasses up his nose, looking away from Bob’s smug expression to give Gary an apologetic look. Those glasses, they really needed to be replaced. They just never fit right. But of course it always got pushed to the wayside on the long “to do” list that accompanied running their own hospital business. He went to take another bite of soup and then thought better of it.

Bob’s eyes instantly snapped back to you as you entered the room and his expression softened. Like it had been doing every time he set eyes on you. Hmm. Interesting. Interesting indeed. Gary had been worried that when Bob started to recover from his ordeal, he might carry a grudge against you. That didn’t seem to be the case at all. Not at all. Interesting.

Not that Gary could blame Bob. He had watched you grow from an angry, scrappy teen to the kind, thoughtful adult you were today. Life hadn’t been easy for you and yet here you were, carving out your own way and aspiring to better yourself through further education. Gary was proud of you. He knew Miguel was too. Proud and a teensy bit overprotective. Though Miguel would never admit it. He smiled as he took another salty bite of soup.

***

**********Your POV**********

Dinner seemed to go over well. Gary helped you clean up afterward even though you told him you had it. Sigh. There was no stopping Gary once he set his mind to something. You all chatted for a bit after dinner and you made sure Bob stayed with you so he and Dr. Rivera wouldn’t fight or cut looks at each other anymore. Having everyone you cared about in one room… it was nice. You felt lucky to be surrounded by such good people.

Bob was currently on your shoulder gripping your hair and laughing at something Gary had said. Bob’s eyes always shone brightly and his eye sockets crinkled at the corners a little when he truly smiled. It was nice seeing him smiling again. Even after everything. Bob… he was truly amazing.


	25. Chapter 20: Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Evening. Hope this week is better than last for you guys! ^~^ Last week was... yeah... 
> 
> Anyway, here's a longish chapter for you all! Enjoy!
> 
> (And I know, Halloween was weeks ago at this point but it's the BEST holiday and should be celebrated ALL YEAR!)

Weeks passed and the days were getting shorter and colder. Halloween was coming. The best time of year! And you were getting home somewhat early for a Friday. And really, you weren’t being sneaky or quiet or anything when you opened the door. But Bob didn’t hear you come in anyway. He was too busy standing on the couch, belting out the ending theme to some anime on TV. Like actually belting at the top of his lungs… er, metaphorically speaking. And he was doing all the poses along with the characters on the screen!

You had to put a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from laughing out loud.

But Bob must have heard you anyway. Because he stopped mid-pose, and almost cartoonishly, slowly turned his head as the lights in his eye sockets shrank to pinpricks as he saw you watching him.

You lost it, laughing loudly through your hands.

Bob blushed profusely, folding his arms over his chest as he slowly sank into the couch.

“Aw, Bob! Don’t be embarrassed! You were so cute! I wish I had recorded that!” You giggled as you approached the mortified Bitty.

“I’m not cute.” He grumbled, scooting away from you as flopped down beside him.

“Oh shoot. I’m sorry. You’re right of course. I shouldn’t have said cute.” You gave him your most serious expression and he looked up at you skeptically, narrowing his eyes. Your serious look faltered and broke into a grin. “Because I meant adorable! Your wittle dance! Hahaha!” You laughed and reached for him as he leapt up, shoving your hand away.

“I am NOT adorable!” He snarled, clenching his fists at his side. “Take it back! I’m scary, evil… I bite… I mean it… argh, get off of me!”

You had scooped him up and were snuggling him while he growled, tried to push you away, and tried not to smile. Haha, he was failing miserably on all fronts.

He was just too cute! Without thinking, you smooched the side of his skull.

He froze in his struggling, giving you a stunned look as he raised his hand up to the side where you kissed him.

You stared back at him, the moment becoming awkward, as you hastily set him down.

“Uh… um… g-gross,” he said as he made a show of wiping off the side of his reddening face. “Yeah, heh, gross. You’re gross.”

You cleared your throat, deciding to change the subject. “Yeah, well, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Oh... yeah? A surprise, huh? What is it?”

“Wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, dork! Lemme go change and we’ll head out.”

“Head out? Where’re we goin’? Hey wait!” He dashed off the sofa, following you as you retreated to your room.

“You’re not even gonna give me a hint?” He called after you.

“Patience,” you called back through the closed door.

He gave a dramatic groan just on the other side of the door, and you heard the faint clack of a tiny skull hitting wood. Patience fail.

***

Once a year in the fall, some of the local businesses rented out the park and put on a sort of haunted park/carnival shindig. You hadn’t been before but heard it was fun, and apparently attendance had grown over the years. They now had a haunted mirror maze, a haunted hayride, carnival games, dealers, some smallish rides, a bunch of food fried on a stick, the works.

As you pulled into the parking lot, you noticed with no small amount of glee that Bob went completely still, his little pupils widening to almost completely fill his eye sockets as his mouth hung open. The park was dimly lit by fake lanterns and jack-o-lanterns hung in the trees. Fake spider webs seemed to hang from every surface along the pathways. Fog rolled out in places along the main path. From the parking lot you could see some of the workers dressed in various costumes. Concession stands were set up near the entrance. Yeah, Bob was excited. So adorable!

“It’s… it’s just like on TV!” he whisper/squeaked. He pressed a hand to the windshield, staring out in awe as some dude dressed like the grim reaper in a skeleton mask chased some squealing teenagers with a revving chainsaw.

“Hah! I bet you’re excited to see one of your cousins big enough to be chasing down humans.” You giggled.

“No. I’m gonna stop ya right there.” He cut you a look. “Not funny. I know it’s just people in masks. I’m not stupid. I just like the atmosphere is all. Quit bein’ speciesist.”

“Pfft. Speciesist? Really? I’m not speciesist. Bitties are great! You, on the other hand…” You sucked in a breath through your teeth giving him a pitying look as he glared at you, accepting your offer to help him onto your shoulder anyway.

“Why ya gotta be like that, huh? And here I thought we were gonna have a good time.” He sighed sadly, shaking his head as you all got out of the car. “Welp. Unfortunately, it’s come to this. You leave me no choice.”

What was he talking about? You glanced over at him as you neared the ticket line. He was lacing his fingers together and raising them to your ear. Oh god! Ugh, not that!

He grinned as he cracked and popped his tiny little knuckles and fingers right by your ear! Ugh! Bob had learned that new trick of irritating you just recently. You hated that sound of bone grating on bone followed by the cracks and pops of his knuckles! Ugh, how did he even do that? As far as you knew there should be no reason his joints pop and crack like that! Then again, you seriously didn’t know how he held together and moved in the first place. Either way, ugh, the sounds were gross!

“Bob, no, stop it!” You hissed and cringed. Ugh, like nails on a chalkboard. “Seriously! We’re getting up to the line. Stop!”

He giggled and continued to pop his knuckles now and again as you tried to ignore him. Eventually, he gave up, becoming distracted by something as you approached the ticket window.

“Welcome to The Haunt. How may I help you?” A bored worker said before she started, spotting Bob on your shoulder. “Oh! Um, is… is that an Edgy Bitty?” She asked, looking nervous.

Bob was still distracted by something and hadn’t heard her.

“Yeah, _he_ is. Problem?” You slid the money to the girl, arching an eyebrow and silently daring her to say anything.

Oh, you had looked into it prior. Unbeknownst to Bob, ever since that Bitty store incident months ago, you had made sure anywhere you brought Bob didn’t have any kind of rules against Edgy Bitties. The Haunt had no such rules in place. You were determined he didn’t face such prejudice again.

She hesitated, consulting some kind of list on her table, and then shook her head, hesitantly handing you your wristband and tickets.

You glanced at Bob, relieved he hadn’t noticed the exchange somehow. Sheesh, what had him so enraptured…

You looked to where he was staring and saw it: A whole table filled with etched drinking glasses with cheesy Halloween puns and cartoonish skeletons on them. You swore one of Bob’s eye lights was flickering as he stared intently at the stand, his grip tightening on your shirt.

“Don’t,” you whispered to him.

He shook his head and blinked, seemingly breaking whatever trance he had been in. His eyes meet yours and he offered you a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his skull.

You sighed, deciding to keep as far away from that table as possible.

***

Sheesh, you didn’t think The Haunt would be so scary. You all had decided to start the night at the mirror maze. And every time someone jumped out at you, you found yourself flinching away and had run into the mirrored walls a few times.

Bob, of course, found the whole thing absolutely hilarious, even as he had to cling to your shoulder for dear life every time you jumped. This was your life now. Things jumping at you followed by peals of Bob’s evil high-pitched laughter. Ah well, at least he was having fun.

Not that you weren’t having fun. Sure, it was kind of embarrassing falling for every little jump-scare, but seeing Bob laughing so much made you happy.

For dinner, you all decided the healthy, adult choice would be one of those big soft pretzels covered in mustard. You settled at one of the outdoor wooden tables. It was really nice out. Cool but not cold. The whole park was dimly lit with fake flickering lanterns that threw neat shadows over everything. The air smelled of fried food and hay.

“This is officially my favorite holiday,” Bob mused as mustard dribbled down his mandible.

“Mhm,” you agreed, fighting the inclination to wipe his face, knowing it would just irritate him. “Though what other holidays have you really experienced?”

“I’ve seen other holidays. Can’t say I’m a big fan of Christmas. Lotsa grabby kids tapping on my glass tank begging their parents to buy me or… uh, tank mates. Heh, kind of terrifying actually. Guess I was lucky no one ever bought me…” He smiled and laughed it off, but his eyes definitely looked a little more dim.

Hm. Another glimpse into Bob’s mysterious past. Any time he talked about his past, you’d only ever get little snippets like this. He never seemed to want to talk about it, but you could tell something happened that weighed heavily on him. As always when he mentioned his past, you tried to get him to talk about it more.

“But you eventually got out of there. How…”

“Heh, check out that costume!” He pointed with the the pretzel piece, flinging a mustard glob onto the table.

You watched as a clown riding a giant chicken lunged at some poor unsuspecting couple and discharged an airhorn at them. The guy actually flinched and screamed while his date laughed at him.

“Heh heh. You humans come up with some bizarre ways to scare each other.” He finished his pretzel piece, reaching for another. “Wanna go on the hayride after this?”

You sighed. As always, Bob had deflected any further conversation about his past.

“Sure,” you said. You couldn’t help it anymore and wiped the glob of mustard off his chin with your thumb.

“Argh, don’t do that!” He grumbled at you, pushing your thumb away from his face. He instead used the back of his sleeve to mop up the rest of the mustard. Great. At least you had gotten most of it before he could smear it all over his clothes. “I swear, Tiny, sometimes you treat me like I’m immature or somethin’!”

“Sometimes you act immature,” you said.

“Yeah? Well, sometimes you act like… a doo-doo head.” He locked eyes with you. You stared each other down, before you started cracking up. He grinned.

“Pfft, doo-doo head. Really?” You asked as you wiped up the table and gathered the napkins.

“Heh, it made you laugh.” He seemed pleased with himself.

***

The line to get on the hayride was long. Bob was giggling every time he heard the distant sounds of chainsaws followed by people screaming. You swallowed. Ah man, this sounded like it was going to be even scarier than the mirror maze.

“Ya scared?” Bob asked you, grinning widely at you from your shoulder as he kicked his feet.

“No,” you lied.

“Ya look scared.”

“I’m not.”

“Bull. You’re scared.”

“I’m fine. Shut up.” You said, folding your arms.

Some woman in front of you with two small kids kept glancing back at you. What was her deal? And seriously, who brings small children to something like this?

“The mighty Tiny, unafraid of growling dogs, angry cats, or biting skeletons. But those spooky, flimsy plastic masks and chainsaws without chains in ‘em…” He tutted you.

“I’m going to dropkick you if you don’t stop.” You hissed. “And it won’t be romantically and there will be no sparkles or sunsets,” you added, semi-quoting that weird fanfic Bob had found in your history a while back.

That just sent him into one of his fits of high-pitched laughter. You bit the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing too.

That woman in front of you looked back again briefly as she pushed her kids more in front of her. Whatever. You decided to ignore her.

Finally, it was your turn to board the hayride. The woman in front of you cut over to talk to one of the workers. Her kids whined in protest.

You walked around her, boarding the wagon and finding a seat on one of the hay bales being used as makeshift benches for the ride. Bob eyed the hay bale curiously from your shoulder. You pulled some hay up to hand to him. He grabbed it, studying and pulling it apart before letting the pieces rain down on your jacket.

You were watching the woman with the kids, as she was now pointing at you and talking animatedly to the worker. What the hell? She folded her arms as the worker headed your way.

“Hey, what’s wrong? What are ya…” Bob asked, but stopped talking when he saw a worker in fake blood-stained overalls approach you.

The man was motioning for you to step off the wagon. The other people on the wagon were looking at you. Seriously? You stood up, taking deep breaths to try to calm your growing anger.

“Er, I’m sorry.” The man started, wiping at his sweaty face with his sleeve as you stepped off the wagon to stand in front of him. “But this lady here says your…er, skeleton thing was growling at her kids. An’ liability and all that… we, er, can’t have it on the hayride. You can leave it in one of the lockers over there…” He pointed hesitantly, looking nervously at you.

You glanced at Bob. That happy spark in his eyes that had been growing as of late… it was fading. It looked like he was already accepting the fact that you all would once again be forced to leave a place. Or maybe he actually thought you might leave him in a locker? He clenched his jaw, looking at the ground. Defeat and shame written all over his expression. No. This wasn’t how this night would end. Bob didn’t deserve to be treated like this. You wouldn’t let him be treated like this. Not again.

“No.” You told the worker, folding your arms over your chest.

“N-no?” He echoed.

“Yeah. No. Not doing that. And that woman is lying. Ask anyone who…”

“How dare you call me a liar!” The woman was now storming toward you, her kids holding onto her sweater and barely keeping up. “That thing shouldn’t be allowed…”

“He’s not a _thing_ ,” you said, shaking, and quickly losing your temper. You weren’t a confrontational person. You were trying to remain calm. But this… you wouldn’t let her say things like this. You narrowed your eyes at her. “ _He_ has a name, and I won’t let you talk to _him_ like that.”

She sneered, “That _thing_ is a mistake, and I will not have it around my children. You and that abomination shouldn’t…”

“Shut the fuck up, or so help me,” You snapped, cutting her off and stopping her dead in her tracks. Calmness fail. Nope. You were so done. She looked at you wide-eyed, her mouth gaping open and closed, reminding you of a goldfish. If goldfish were red-faced and had a bad hair. You glared at her, daring her to say another word before turning back to the worker who had been fiddling with a button on the radio at his hip. “As I was saying, ask anyone who was standing in line with me! Bob… yes, _HE_ has a name… and _HE_ didn’t growl at anyone or do anything but wait patiently in line just like everyone else! You will not treat _HIM_ like he’s some object and I will not be putting _HIM_ in a locker! Go on, ask them! Ask the others who were standing in line! He didn’t do anything! He doesn’t deserve this!” you pointed at the people on the wagon who of course, were all watching the exchange.

But no one was saying anything. No one came to your defense.

Of course not. Of fucking course not. And now it looked like two uniformed security guards were heading your way. No. Fuck this. Fuck this whole place.

“You know what? Fuck you! The whole lot of you! Assholes! I hope you enjoy your ride and I hope no one you love ever gets treated the way Bob has!” You turned, gritting your teeth and fighting back angry tears. Ignoring the security guards calling to you as you stomped toward the front desk by the little vendor tables.

You may have been leaving, but you weren’t leaving quietly! Hell no! Not this time! You’d make damn sure you spoke to someone in charge about this and got your money back and an apology for Bob!

You almost made it to the desk before someone grabbed your upper arm.

Bob, who had been quiet the whole time, snarled and lunged at the hand on you, barely missing it with his teeth as the security guard yanked his hand away.

“Jesus! That little monster tried to bite me! I need you to restrain that thing and come with us,” one of the security guards said to you as the other jogged up behind him. “Didja see that? Thing tried to bite me!” He told the other security guard.

Before you could tell them off too, Bob started laughing. It definitely wasn’t a happy laugh.

“Monster, huh? Thing? Abomination? That what I am? That’s what gives ya the right to put your hands on _my_ human?” His eye sockets were dark, save for the left one which burned and flickered like an angry red ember. You’d… never seen him look this angry before. His face twisted into an evil grin. “Heh heh. Fine. That’s fine. Tell ya what. Ya wanna see a monster, huh? I’ll show ya a real monster,” he growled.

Before you could say anything to try to convince him not to do whatever he was thinking of doing, he disappeared. Like you actually didn’t see him move before he was at your feet. Almost like he teleported. Stunned, you could only stare as he disappeared again and you heard shouts and the sounds of breaking glass coming from… ah shit. He was kicking over the etched glasses at that little stand! The security guards were rushing over while the guy manning the shop squawked in outrage. Shit. Shit shit shit!

You ran over too yelling, “Bob! Wait! Don’t!”

Too late. This wasn’t good. Bob had completely lost it, dodging the shopkeeper’s grabs as he manically kicked and pushed over glasses right and left sending glass shards flying in every direction! People were stopping to watch and gape at the mayhem. You had to stop this before he got hurt!

“YOU ALL WANNA SEE A FUCKING MONSTER, HUH?! HAPPY NOW?! I’LL TEAR THIS FUCKING PLACE TO THE GROUND STARTING WITH THIS GARBAGE! FUCK YOU! FUCKING HUMANS!” He roared, barely dodging the shopkeeper and the braver of the two security guards who was also now trying to catch him. He laughed manically, continuing his destruction.

The braver security guard had jerked his hand back after Bob tried to bite him again. The other one just kind of stood there uselessly, seemingly not knowing how to handle the situation.

You got up to the table, out of breath, gasping, “Bob, stop! Please… you have to stop this!”

He did pause, his manic grin slipping as he made eye contact with you. He looked almost confused, as his left eye stopped flickering and his right eye light returned to its socket. You made to reach for him.

That’s when the shopkeeper slammed something down over Bob. You screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The social media link of the [Tumblr](http://lywellen.tumblr.com) variety.


	26. Chapter 21: Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Tuesday. Hope your week is good thus far! ^-^

You screamed, and then realized the shopkeeper had slammed the open end of a glass over Bob, trapping him.

Bob froze, his eye lights completely disappearing, before he started scraping and then pounding at the sides of the glass, becoming frantic.

“L-let him out!” You yelped, reaching for the glass. But one of the security guards held you back.

“No way!” The shopkeeper said. “Look what he did to my stuff! Who’s going to pay for all this?”

“Please! I will… just…” You wrenched your arm away from the security guard. “Let go of me!”

Bob was definitely panicking, slamming himself into side of the glass and hyperventilating. He was going to hurt himself!

“We need you to come with us,” the security guard said.

“I will… just please, let him out of there! He can’t… please, let him out!” You made to reach for the glass again but the shopkeeper slid it back away from you, knocking Bob over in the process.

“I’m not letting him out! He’ll… he’ll just start breaking my stuff again!” The shopkeeper was looking nervously at Bob who was now on his side clutching his knees to his chest. His eye socket were shut tightly and he was sweating and gasping for air.

“He won’t! I’ll pay for whatever he broke or will break if he does! Let him out!” You reached over again and reluctantly, the shopkeeper removed the glass.

Bob still had his eyes shut and was still clutching his knees to his chest and whimpering between his gasping breaths. As gently as you could, you touched his side. He jolted and latched onto your finger with his teeth.

“Shit! What…” the shopkeeper started.

“Back off,” you told the shopkeeper through clenched teeth and winced as pain shot through your finger. But you didn’t jerk your hand away. You turned your attention back to your friend. “E-easy Bob. It’s me! It’s ok. You’re not trapped anymore. Take deep breaths… like during the storms. Easy.”

He was still hyperventilating and still had his teeth clamped around your finger as his eye lights slowly returned, frantically scanning his surroundings. You let him get his bearings, fighting the urge to yank your hand away, your eyes starting to tear up. It hurt! Eventually, his eyes settled on you and then down on your finger. He quickly opened his mouth staring at the bite, looking horrified. Frantically, he wrapped his shaky hands over the wound.

“I…” He trailed off, holding your finger and staring wide-eyed at the mess around him, just taking it all in. The glass, the nervous-looking shopkeeper, the security guards standing just to the side of you. One of the guards was talking into his radio. People were standing around staring and whispering to each other. You could see police lights approaching in the distance.

“Hey. It’s ok. I’m going to pick you up. Is that ok?” You asked him.

Bob locked his eyes on you, nodding once as he trembled. Tears started to well up in the bottoms of his eye sockets as he struggled to slow his breathing.

Very gently, you scooped him up, cradling him to your chest as best you could with him still holding your finger tightly in his hands.

“I… I’m sorry… I… I d-didn’t mean… I… they… couldn’t… he grabbed you… I…” He was babbling almost hysterically.

“It’s ok. I know. Deep breaths. It’s going to be ok,” you said, taking deep breaths yourself.

“I’m… I’m not a thing. I’m not… I’m not…” He whispered. And then he was trembling and hiccuping. And you were cradling him against you with both hands, rubbing the back of his skull and trying to comfort him. And it wasn’t fair.

Somehow, you managed to reign in your own temper by the time the police showed up.

You told the officer everything that had happened. He listened. And then listened as the hayride worker, security guards, and shopkeeper corroborated your story more or less. By some miracle, the shopkeeper didn’t want to press charges as long as you agreed to pay for the damages (which you readily agreed to).

Then, the officer pulled you to the side and took out what looked like a notepad.

“How long have you been in possession of that Bitty?” He asked as he wrote.

“A few months,” you answered, watching him warily. Was he writing you a ticket?

“Has it ever caused trouble in public before?” He continued writing.

“No, _he_ hasn’t,” you answered causing him to look up at you briefly at your tone change. “Sir,” you added.

“Well, since he is in your possession and I cannot charge him, I’m issuing you a citation for disturbing the peace. The court date is set here. If convicted, you could face the fine amount stated here and possible jail time. As the security guards stated, you are also banned from The Haunt for the rest of the year. Do you have any questions?” He ripped off a yellow sheet from his notepad and handed it to you.

“No sir,” you said quietly as you adjusted Bob so you could take it. Somehow you kept your hands and voice from shaking. Small victory.

You stared at it, your mind kind of blanking. You’d… never been charged with anything before. Frankly, the whole thing freaked you out and made you feel sick. You could barely concentrate on what the officer was saying as he suggested you refrain from taking your Bitty out in public since he doubts you’d get rid of him or something. It didn’t really matter. The officer was waving you off and getting back in his car.  You’d have to read over the citation later. Try to figure it out later. You had a month.

Bob stayed quiet in your hands. You knew he could hear everything. You also knew he’d probably want to stay hidden. Whenever he was upset, he always wanted to hide. He kept his death-grip on your finger. You rubbed his skull now and again with your thumb as you kept him shielded from everything as best you could.

Next stop on the walk of shame was the glass stand. Luckily the crowds of people who were watching you before seemed to have cleared out now that the show was over. Someone had cleaned up the glass shards already. The shopkeeper was waiting for you with his arms crossed over his chest. You mentally prepared yourself for another lecture, rubbing Bob’s skull with your thumb.

God, you actually did feel a little bad for the shopkeeper. He really hadn’t done anything to deserve his shop getting messed up. And he didn’t press charges! Still, you knew you probably didn’t have the money to pay for the glasses. And he had hurt Bob, even if it was unintentionally. You couldn’t help the look you were probably giving him.

“So,” he said hesitantly as you approached the stand. “I was thinking. After hearing the whole story… I um, I’m not gonna charge you full price. How about you pay wholesale price and we call it even?”

What? You were not expecting this reaction at all! The shock on your face must have been pretty apparent because he held up his hands saying, “Yeah, I know. You probably weren’t expecting that after everything, right? I just… well… After hearing what happened, I kind of don't blame the little guy for getting so mad?  Though maybe I would have preferred he didn't take it out on my merchandise... But yeah.  I had no idea… about Bitties. Anything about them, really. I didn't know... I actually wish I didn’t have to charge you anything, but…”

“No, no!” You said, finally finding your voice again. “Wow. I… I understand. This is part of your livelihood. I’m just sorry about the whole thing in general. None of this should have happened,” you said, taking out your card. Wow, you felt even worse for the shopkeeper now. He was actually being really nice about the whole thing.

The shopkeeper just nodded at you again, actually looking a little guilty as you paid. Geez.

Finally done with everything, you turned and headed for your car, watched closely by the security guards standing off to the side.

Well, this could have ended up so much worse. So much worse.

You just felt bad all around. You didn’t make anything right. Didn’t get a refund. No one had apologized to Bob. And now you had to go to court in a month. And maybe go to jail? Go into debt? Both?

Even with the discount, the glasses were expensive. You all would be eating ramen again for another few weeks. But you weren’t in debt. Not yet.

Bob was probably mad at you. Yet again, you felt like you had failed him. Even when you tried your hardest to stand up for him, it still wasn’t good enough.

You opened the car door and he did his disappearing act again and ended up on the dashboard. It felt really weird having him zip out of your hand like that. Almost like a zap of static electricity.

“Since when are you able to do that?” You asked, staring at your hand where he had been. Seemed him holding your wound that whole time stopped it from bleeding too much. Your finger was tingly as the circulation returned to it.

“Do what?” he grumbled, his back to you as he sat down on the dashboard.

“That thing where you disappear from one place and just appear in another… It’s almost like you can teleport now or something,” you said, taking your seat behind the wheel.

“I’ve always been fast,” he said, staring out through the windshield as you started the car. He wouldn’t even look at you.

“Oh.” Seemed that would be the only explanation you’d get for now.

You sat and let the car idle for a bit, trying to figure out something you could say to make any of this better. Like you could make any of this better. He’d probably just get more upset if you apologized. Was he mad at you?

“Before ya ask, no, I don’t wanna talk about it,” he said, breaking the silence but still not looking at you. “And no, I’m not mad at ya. You were just tryin’ to protect me. Like usual. The damsel in distress. Heh,” he laughed bitterly.

“You’re not a damsel…”

“Look, can we just not talk about it right now? Please?” His eye sockets narrowed as he continued his steady stare through the windshield.

You put the car in drive, saying nothing. Bob took a deep breath and let it out.

The ride home was quiet as each of you were probably lost in thought. Again you thought about what you could have done differently. Though would it have really mattered? What happened, happened. There were too many ignorant people in the world. Maybe you just couldn’t protect Bob from all of them. No matter how much you wanted to. You wished you could. He deserved to be happy. What would happen to him if you went to jail? How long could you even be in jail for something like this? Ugh, you’d have to read the citation later. Do some research into it.

At least there was no traffic this time of night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr Link](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com)


	27. Chapter 22: Half Empty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short chapter. ^^;;

“I’m sleepin’ on the couch tonight… and probably from now on,” Bob told you as he slid from your shoulder, landing on the back of said couch. First thing he had said since leaving The Haunt. At least he had let you carry him inside and was looking at you now.

You studied his expression. The lights in his eyes were dim as he looked away from you. Hm.

“So you are mad at me after all…” Figured. You sighed. “I’m sorry…”

“Argh, no. I’m not mad at ya! I told ya that before, didn’t I? Geez. Don’t go all apologetic on me. It’s annoying.” He frowned.

“So you’re sleeping on the couch because I’m annoying?” You asked.

“Sure, we’ll go with that.” He snapped. “Why’s it all of a sudden a big deal I don’t wanna sleep with ya? Geez, can’t I get some space for once?” He glared at you and then almost immediately his expression softened. He looked away from you again, rubbing the back of his head, looking like he’d say something else and then just shook his head.

“…is that really what you want? Space?” You asked him.

“…yeah,” he answered hesitantly. “That’s what I want.”

“Ok…” you said. Hm. Something was off. He didn’t really seem angry at you. And up until now he had always been almost… clingy. His arms were folded tightly over his chest. He was clenching his jaw. It almost seemed like he was… upset with himself. Ugh, you couldn’t just leave him like that.

“Look,” you said, “I’m not gonna make you talk if you don’t want to. But if you’re feeling guilty or worried or embarrassed or whatever, don’t. What happened tonight was upsetting. I’m upset too. Personally, I’d like nothing better than to cuddle up and talk about stuff and maybe we can comfort each other?” You waited, hoping he’d take you up on your offer. He said nothing. You sighed. “But if I’m wrong about you needing that too and you really do just want some space, I’ll understand. Just… don’t push me away because of pride or guilt or whatever.”

He didn’t answer you, still staring intently at nothing. Geez, he looked like he was trying not to cry.

You reached for him and he jerked away, out of your reach.

“Don’t,” he said. “Just… kinda wanna be alone right now, ya know?” He was rubbing one of his arms and seemingly studying the pattern in the sofa cushion.

You dropped your hand. Yeah… you understood needing to be alone. “If you change your mind…”

“Yeah.” He still stared at the sofa.

Ah man. You hesitated, not wanting to leave him alone. “Hey, are you sure…”

“Yeah. ‘Nite.” He said too quickly.

Well… what else could you do?

You headed to your room, turning off the light on the way. Leaving Bob still standing there.

He said he wanted to be left alone. What were you supposed to do?

You lay in bed, unable to sleep. Your thoughts not letting you sleep. That stupid citation. What was supposed to be a fun night was ruined because of stupid, ignorant assholes. And Bob was hurt yet again because of it. And now he was being quiet and distant again; something he hadn’t done in a while. And you weren’t able to do anything about it…

Should you do something about it? Could you really just leave him out there like that? Alone?

  
**********Bob’s POV**********

Ashamed.

Undeserving.

Broken.

Burden.

That’s what he felt.

Despite his usual better judgement, he had forgotten how cruel people could be. For once, he had dared to hope things could be different. That he could go out with you and have a good time.

And you both were having a good time. You were laughing. Smiling.

Perhaps that’s why he had been so unprepared for the abrupt shift in the night’s events.

You all were about to get kicked off the hayride. He was once again referred to as a “thing.” And though it pissed him off, he had accepted it. Wasn’t like he hadn’t grown used to that kind of stuff.

But you actually stood your ground. Defended him.

You indirectly called him someone you loved… did you even realize you’d said that? He was so shocked he had said nothing. Nothing!

That was, until someone dared to put their hands on you. On _you_! Bob wanted to hurt him.  How dare that security guard put a hand on _his_ human?! Bob wanted to protect you.

And the guy was calling Bob a monster. A thing.

And Bob… just…

He’d had enough. He wanted to fight back. Destroy everything! Shatter their stupid, idiotic ideas about him and his kind! Tear the place to the ground with his bare hands! Stupid, fucking humans! They wanted a monster? He’d show them a monster!

Then, you were begging him to stop. And he remembered… how had he forgotten how his actions might affect you? He’d fucked up.

Suddenly, he was trapped.

And like always, he panicked.

And in his panic, he bit you. He hurt you. Again.

And hurt you again when you got scolded by everyone.

And hurt you again when you got in trouble with the law.

Because of him.

All because of him.

He kinda wished you’d have yelled at him. Been angry with him at the very least. He deserved your anger.

But no.

You protected him. Like you always did.

Even after he’d done all that damage.

Even after he just cried and sniveled and let you hide him from the repercussions of his actions.

Like a coward.

He was a coward.

He had always been a coward.

His cowardice had hurt others in the past.

And now it was hurting you.

And you were still protecting him. Still being kind to him after he’d just snapped at you.

Why?

Why did you do all that?

He didn’t deserve it. How could he keep hurting you like this? He didn’t deserve you.

He really was a monster.

Broken.

No good.

Coward.

He was pressing the blanket on the couch into his face, trying to stifle the gross sniffles and choking noises he was making. He didn’t want you to hear him.

Of course you heard him.

And then there were gentle fingers rubbing his back, his skull. He was being picked up. Cradled. Kissed on his face. Being given soothing words, telling him it was ok. It was ok to cry.

He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t.

He should try to push you away again. He didn’t deserve you.

But he wanted it. Wanted you.

He didn’t push you away.

He couldn’t.


	28. Chapter 23: Half Full

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy kudos guys, it’s over 1,000! Thank you all so very much!!! I’m not worthy of such amazing readers. Seriously, your kudos, comments, art, or even just hits on this crazy thing I’m writing keep me doing the writing thing. I can’t thank you all enough! ^-^ I’m so glad you guys are enjoying this. Hope the story continues to entertain you all! ^^;;
> 
> And check out this awesome [fanart](http://chubmoose.tumblr.com/post/153678966925/lywellen-amazing-fanart-by-chubmoose-just-look) by chubmoose, it's so cute! ^-^
> 
> And now, for a somewhat short chapter (but posting early!)  
> ________________________________________________________________________

You laid in bed with Bob on your chest, rubbing along his skull and back with your fingertips. He was just laying there quietly on his side as you rubbed him, the dim lights from his eyes reflecting off your hand as it moved.

You hadn’t been able to sleep earlier while Bob was on the couch. Yeah, he said he wanted to be left alone. But you just had this feeling… Thankfully, you got to him before he could spiral down further into whatever badness was going on in his head. You felt a little bad about picking him up and carrying him back to your room when he said he had wanted to be left alone. But you couldn’t just leave him there when he was so upset. Were you wrong? Should you have just left him alone? Why couldn’t he just talk to you about stuff? Though you were just as guilty. Maybe if you talked to him first?

“Do you wanna talk about it?” You asked.

“…you shoulda just left me,” he said quietly.

“Why? Because you want to be alone? Or because you believe you deserve to be alone?”

Silence.

Yeah. Bingo. Definitely the latter.

You sighed. “I used to blame myself for all sorts of stuff,” you said. “My mother’s death. My father’s breakdown, his drug use, and subsequent arrest. The fact that I was burdening the shitty foster family I got placed with who clearly didn’t want me there except for the money they got from the state each month for taking me in. Then, when my dad got clean and I was placed back with him eventually, I blamed myself for his relapse. I learned to hide my feelings. Even my basic needs. Kept everyone at a distance. It was easier that way. No one was burdened by me. I could be almost invisible. And when you’re invisible, you’re less likely to get hurt. Well, that’s what I figured anyway.”

Bob was looking up at you now. You continued, “I think, ultimately, I was wrong. I was pretty lonely, though I convinced myself I wasn’t. I know I still fall into that familiar pattern of guilt, self-loathing and pushing people away sometimes. Anyway, the point is, I kind of feel like you’re doing the same kinds of stuff. Don’t. Please don’t ever feel like you have to hide whatever you’re feeling or thinking. Not with me. And in return, I won’t do that with you.”

“You don’t have ta… I don’t…” He said quietly, trailing off and looking away.

“Look,” you said, “I’ve told you before and I’ll keep telling you over and over again until you get it through your thick skull that I want you in my life. I wouldn’t ever want a life that you’re not a part of, dork. Even with all the crazy shit we’ve had to deal with, my life has been a lot happier since I met you. You’re amazing! And my best friend!”

“Argh, stop. Geez.” He was either closing his eyes or covering them as the lights disappeared.

“Nope. I won’t! I care about you, you stubborn jerk. Deal with it!” You imitated his voice on that last part and chuckled, kissing the top of his skull.

He grumbled, rolling over to bury his face in your pajama top. He was quiet again as you rested your hand on him, continuing to rub the back of his skull with your thumb.

You were starting to wonder if he had nodded off.

He sighed and turned his head to the side again so he could speak. “I’m sorry ya got in trouble because of me,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’ta done what I did.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure I would have gotten in trouble anyway after cursing out an entire tractor full of people. Seriously, I’ve never done something like that before… I don’t know what came over me. Clearly it didn’t help the situation any. So, sorry I got us both in trouble for that.”

“Heh. I think ya cussing out that soccer mom was a great decision though.”

You groaned. “Oh god, I did do that. And in front of her kids no less. Sorry for that too… well… kind of.”

Bob gave an amused snort and then was quiet again for a bit. Your phone lit up the room briefly, letting you know it was charged before the screen went out again.

“Thanks. For uh… bein’ there for me,” he mumbled against you.

You smiled. “Always. Just like you’re always there for me.” You went back to rubbing his back.

He made a happy noise but didn’t say anything further. Seemed he was done talking for the night.

***

“Tiny! Holy shit! Come check this out!” Bob called you frantically from his spot in front of the computer.

“What?” You asked, setting a pot on the stove. Yay ramen. Again.

“Seriously! Get over here!” He yelled at you from the other room.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Ugh, what?”

He was grinning excitedly. “Ok. So ya remember last week when we got kicked outta that stupid Haunt thing?”

“No, I don’t remember that at all,” you deadpanned.

“Argh, sarcasm aside. Anyway, some kid submitted a video of it from their phone to youtube. Yeah, I know, I was kinda pissed off too at first. Don’t worry, your face isn’t even really in it. Also, the video quality isn’t that great… But it’s got like over a hundred thousand hits already! And check out these comments!”

Sure enough, there was the video (which Bob wasn’t playing). He scrolled down and… wow. There were so many comments!

All were generally outraged that Bob had been treated so poorly. And many noticed the fact that it was crystal clear he had emotions. That he was sentient. There were a few nay-sayers but they were clearly in the minority. Seemed that shopkeeper with the glasses had actually posted a comment containing the entirety of the story about what happened to Bob at The Haunt. And he had pulled his business from the event the day after the fact!

You scrolled some more. Geez, people were calling for a boycott of the event and someone had linked to a petition one of the animal rights groups had started a while back, urging for laws protecting all Bitties from abuse. Claiming they deserved rights.

“I’m gonna get in on this. Maybe start a blog or somethin’,” Bob said, his eyes shining. “This is big. I had no idea there were this many humans who were on our side! Though I’m not gonna come out and say that was me in the video because um… yeah, not gonna happen. But I can do something separate. Add to this movement. Maybe help it gain some more momentum… Argh, look at this asshat! Claiming they work for Utaugen and that Bitties only mimic sentience. Fucker! I’m gonna give ‘em a piece of my mind!”

Bob started hopping around the keyboard, typing his response. Hm, he was really serious. You don’t remember ever seeing him this passionate about anything! Well, except maybe mustard.

You’d definitely be helping him. It was awesome the Bitty Rights Movement was not only a thing, but it seemed to be gaining some momentum. It was nice to be reminded that good people still existed. But you knew, real change would take a while. People at large were ignorant. But maybe, slowly, they could be educated. They could change. They could learn to be better people.

Even if you failed sometimes, maybe with each failure came just a little bit of success? One more person changed by something you did. And after a while, all those little changes could add up and snowball into bigger changes. Hah, was that too optimistic?

You watched as Bob continued his enthusiastic assault on the keyboard. Hm. Maybe it wasn’t wrong to hope and work for good changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: Thanks to Moss_Flowers for the inspiration for the last part of this chapter!
> 
> PPS: Come hang out with me on the [Tumblr](http://lywellen.tumblr.com). ^-^


	29. Chapter 24: Smol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the holidays are treating you all well. For those that have them, good luck with exams!  
> __________________________________

You frowned at the puppy, panting happily as she wagged her tail, one ear flopped over her face. She wasn’t contrite at all about the fact that she had pulled her IV catheter. An IV catheter Dr. Rivera had so carefully placed just five minutes ago.

“Guess who gets to wear a cone of shame now? It’s you! Yes it is!” You told her in a sing-song baby voice. She tilted her head sideways at you, her tongue lolling out as her tail thumped behind her.

“Please don’t tell me she pulled her catheter,” Dr. Rivera groaned from the desk where he was calculating the premed drugs.

“Want me to lie to you?” You asked.

He groaned again. “Just bring her back out.”

Oh well. But before getting her, you went to go put together one of the e-collars (i.e. cone of shame, the thing that would prevent this puppy from chewing out her IV catheter again). Just so happened they were stacked by the kennel where Bob was hanging out, sitting with your phone propped up in front of him. Using up all the data per usual.

“We do have hospital WIFI,” you complained, probably for the hundredth time to him.

“Nah, too slow. It’s fine. We haven’t gone over your data plan yet,” Bob said, barely looking up from your phone as he mashed his bony hands to the screen, tapping away.

“Hm. It might happen though. You’ve really been posting like crazy lately on that blog thing of yours. Got any followers?” You went to peek and he tilted the phone away from you.

“A few. Heh, though some don’t believe I’m really a Bitty. I might havta post a short video or somethin’ soon.”

Dr. Rivera called from around the corner. “When I said bring her back I meant today! We’ve got 3 surgeries to do before afternoon appointments! And grab a microchip on your way back.”

“Tell him to go fuck himself,” Bob grumbled under his breath as he continued typing on the phone.

“Bob!” you snapped before calling, “Coming!” to Dr. Rivera.

“Hey, before ya go… ok if I get some stuff mailed to the apartment? Won’t cost ya anything,” Bob said as he peeked at you from around the phone.

“Yeah, fine,” you said, only half-listening as you grabbed an e-collar and went to go grab a microchip and the scanner on the way back. Ah, microchips. Tiny rice-sized objects that contained a number when scanned. That number linked up to a company system that would contain the owner’s contact information when looked up. It wasn’t really like a satellite tracking device, like a lot of people seemed to think (you don’t know how many times you’d had to explain that to owners). It was a good thing you mostly placed microchips when animals were asleep. The needle to place it was huge! You felt like you were shanking them.

You idly wondered how Bittie’s microchips were placed as you held the puppy for IV catheter placement round 2. You knew they were located in their skulls. But Bob didn’t seem to have any scars… Maybe they built the skeletal structure around them while Bitties were being made? And speaking of microchips… hadn’t Ray said something about some company employee being confused when he scanned Bob’s? Maybe because Bob had run away and was reported missing or something? Bob wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information about his past. Ah well. It probably didn’t really matter and definitely wouldn’t come back to bite you all someday… right? Why did you even think that? Ugh.

“Can you please stop daydreaming and hold off the vein properly?” Dr. Rivera grumbled through his teeth.

“Oh! Sorry,” you said as you re-positioned your hand on the wiggly puppy’s leg.

Geez. Doc was in a bad mood. In all fairness, it was kind of your fault that you all had to stack 3 surgeries in one day instead of doing one of them tomorrow. You had court tomorrow and had asked for that day off. Though you didn’t exactly tell them why you needed the day off, just saying you had an “appointment.” Dr. Rivera and Gary didn’t ask any further than that.  You didn't ask for days off very often.

Well, at least you had a long day of surgeries and appointments before you even had to worry about tomorrow.

***

The day went by too fast, you lamented miserably to yourself as you and Bob entered the apartment. You set him down on the couch before flopping down on said couch yourself and turning on the TV.

Bob was all quiet and fidgety, probably worried about court in the morning like you were. Though you had done the research, and it was likely you wouldn’t go to jail or anything like that. Maybe you’d have to pay the fine listed on the citation and do community service, but that was about it. It would be ok.

You reached over and nudged Bob. “Hey. Fretty McFretterson. Stop. Things will be fine tomorrow.”

“Ok,” he said unconvincingly as he clearly kept his fretting face on. He continued to fidget and watch TV.

You nudged him again with your finger. “Talk to me.”

“Just got a lot on my mind’s all. I’m fine. Promise.” He offered you a weak grin, gently pushing your finger away.  His hand lingering on it before he gave you an awkward pat, withdrew his hand, and folded his arms over his chest.

Fine. You turned your attention to the TV. Oh! You loved this cartoon! It was about a bunch of small, sentient space rocks that take humanoid forms and protect the Earth along with their half-human/alien hybrid adopted son?  Hah, the plot was crazy but it really was an amazing show.  And this episode was especially great, though you’d both seen it before. Bob loved this cartoon too. Though he’d always glance over at you while you two watched it.

Tonight even more so.

“Alright, what’s up Staring McStarerson?” You called him out as you caught him outright staring at you.

“What… argh, what’s with these nicknames tonight?” He blushed and looked back at the TV, scratching the back of his head. “And I’m not staring… just thinking and staring at nothin’ and ya just happened to be where I was lookin’. ”

“Uh huh,” you said as you raised an eyebrow at him. “So what are you thinking about while you stare at-“ you made some air-quotes “-nothing?”

Ah man, Blushy McBlusherson’s whole skull was getting pretty red. Pfft, what was he even thinking about? Well at least whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be about court this time.

“Nothin’,” he mumbled as he slouched and continued his stare down with the TV.

“Ugh, fine.” You kind of wanted to tease him more but at the same time, you figured that might make him not tell you anything. If it was important, he’d eventually talk to you anyway. He was getting better about that. Though he seemed to prefer to talk to you when you all lied down for the night. Guess it was easier for him to talk to you when he didn’t have to look you in the eye?

***  
Sure enough, soon after you got in bed, Bob crawled up on you and started fidgeting, before finally, he let out a breath, and spoke.

“I was just thinkin’… do you believe in souls?” He asked quietly.

“That’s random… like soul souls? I guess… maybe,” you said. “I guess I kinda have to since you’ve got one I can kinda see through your eyes and all.”

“Yeah, but do ya think like… human souls are made of the same stuff as Bitties’?”

“I have no idea. I mean, I’ve never seen a human soul so I wouldn’t know. Not like we have glowing eyes or glowing smoke stuff like you all.” What was he getting at?

“Well, I mean, assuming it’s the same, how big do ya think a soul is? Like do ya think some are bigger than others or the same size?” Bob asked.

“I don’t really think they would have size… I have no idea. What brought all this on?”

“I dunno. That crazy cartoon we watch just got me thinkin’… Ya know, how the Gems’ true forms are small rocks… and how one of em’ became like… uh… r-romantically interested in a human? And I… um… I was just wonderin’ your thoughts on that and… argh, ya know what? Forget it. Don’t answer that. Forget I said or asked anything ‘cause I’m… I’m just overly tired and I’m spoutin’ nonsense and I’m gonna go to sleep now and we should both probably sleep and… uh… please just forget about it.”

The room was silent after that.

…what?

No.

That was…

Was he...

What…

No.

He told you to forget it…

Just forget about it…

…best not to think about it.

You decided to take Bob’s request and not answer before you came to weird conclusions.

You took a breath. Had you been holding your breath?

Bob seemed kind of tense too…

“Good night,” you said quietly.

“’Nite,” Bob said back.

You rested your hand over him.

He let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around one of your fingers, nuzzling it.

You both eventually fell asleep like that.


	30. Chapter 25: Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go, have a new chapter! 
> 
> Hope you all have a very happy *insert holiday celebrated here*! ^-^

  
**********Bob’s POV**********

Another dream.

Bob and Growly were sitting on the edge of the front register counter sharing a candy bar. This was the third time they had busted out of their tank while the others slept and he had lost count how much candy they had… eh, borrowed. Heh, and no one was the wiser since they hid the wrappers afterward.

“I was thinkin,” Bob said as he finished his treat, “maybe after this, we can try explorin’ the back of the store?”

Bob waited as Growly looked at him apprehensively and then spoke to him in hands making the gestures that he knew meant “danger” and “bad.”

“Psh, come on. Really? There’s nothin’ to be scared of. No one’s here. It’s after midnight. Ah man, don’t tell me ya turned into a scaredy skel’?” Bob hopped off the counter and kicked the candy wrapper under the sunglasses tower display.

Growly hopped down beside him, glaring and gesturing “no” and then motioning to himself and gesturing widely “brave” and “strong.”

Bob grinned at him. “Heh, that’s what I thought. Come on then. I hear there’s like this huge display in the back of nothing but socks! How hilarious is that?”

The scene shifted.

Bob was bored watching the news through his glass wall while Growly slept in the corner of the tank.

“Bitty Mania has swept across the nation, for those that can afford them. But many wonder, are they safe? Should we be concerned about them running rampant through our neighborhood streets? Not according to both Utaugen and the government. Recently, the USDA cleared the sale of the artificial lifeforms known as Bitties by the Utaugen Company. Utaugen was able to prove that Bitties were not able to survive on their own should they become separated from their handlers. The USDA also required Utaugen to microchip all Bitties and keep strict records about each one’s whereabouts. Also…”

A giant face suddenly obstructed Bob’s view of the TV as Bob jumped and fell backwards. Shit! He didn’t see that kid approach! The kid smiled at him and started pounding on the tank, making Bob flinch and Growly grumble and rub at his eye sockets.

The scene shifted.

Darkness.

Bob was huddled in a container with Growly. They looked at each other now and again, their eye lights reflecting off each other, both too afraid to communicate anything. Bob couldn’t hear much of what was going on outside the box except for bits and pieces. He did hear “defective” and “recall” and “sending them back.”

Then, it felt like they were being carried.

There was a familiar sound… a truck engine. The same sound he had heard when he was first brought to the store.

Fear.

He knew what part happened next.

He didn’t want to be here again.

Please… not this!

Bob woke up as you started rubbing along his back.

He was back home.

Warm.

Safe.

Shit… had he done something stupid embarrassing like whine in his sleep? Had he woken you up?

No… he was pretty sure you weren’t awake. Your eyes were closed. He could feel the gentle rise and fall of your chest. Your hand had even slowed to a stop as it rested on him.

Heh, were you petting him in your sleep?

“Ya awake?” Bob whispered.

No response.

Heh, yeah. Still asleep. Good thing.

That conversation before you all went to sleep… Argh, what the hell had he been thinking?

Stupid.

Stupid stupid.

What the hell was he hoping to accomplish?

Here you were, preparing to go to court in the morning and all stressed and what did he do? Started dwelling on his own feelings.

Stupid. Selfish.

He freaked you out. He could tell.

Did he even understand his own feelings? How he felt for you?

You were his entire world. God, everything good in his life had happened because of you. You made him feel like he was more than just some tiny manufactured pet thing. That he could be more than just some freak mistake. He could be better. When you looked at him, you saw him for who he was, not what he was. This relationship you all had… he was definitely getting more out of it despite your claim that you and he were equals.

You weren’t equal at all.

He wished he could somehow make your life better. Happier. He wanted to be the one to protect you.

Though for once, he might actually have a sort of plan for that. Well, he could help anyway. Somehow, his blog was starting to do well. Very well. A company that was marketing Bitty-sized computer keyboards had recently contacted him to do a review about their product on his blog. They were sending him a keyboard. They were gonna pay him actual money based on the traffic he generated to their site. They didn’t even seem to care whether he was a Bitty or a human pretending to be a Bitty, as long as he helped push their product. Bob was thinking if things kept going well, he might actually be able to help you pay some bills. He could at least do that much.

Argh, that is, if court went well in the morning. It should. He and you had done a lot of research. Humans didn’t seem to jail each other for minor infractions of the law like “disturbing the peace.” Especially if they were first-time offenders. And for once, “not being alive” sort of fell in his favor as the court was not likely to order him to be destroyed like they would if he were a vicious dog.

Anyway, he had maybe dared to hope a little for the future. The way of the world was money. If he could just make some money, maybe he could take care of you for once. Let you cut back your hours at work. Attend school. Do all the things you wanted to do in life. Maybe then…

Argh, stupid. He really needed to get a grip. Stop thinking things like you’d wanna be with him or something. Stop hoping you loved him the way he loved you. That you even loved him at all. That was ridiculous! Someone like him… something like him… there was no way.

Pity. If anything, what you felt for him was pity. Not love.

You deserved better. He couldn’t ask that of you. You’d already given him everything…

You started mumbling in your sleep, breaking Bob out of his thoughts.

Heh, you were so cute as you slept. You mumbled and snored. If he looked close enough, he could see your eyes moving under your eyelids. Did all humans do that? But he couldn’t stare for too long because apparently the light from his eyes was strong enough that you sometimes squinted like you could see it through your thin eyelids. Human anatomy was weird. But he loved how soft and squishy you were.

You used to toss and turn in your sleep until he started sleeping on you. Why was it that you had stopped? Were you trying to protect him even in your sleep? Did you maybe sleep better with him there like he slept better with you? No. It was probably the former. Definitely the former.

He liked being close to you like this, snuggled against you. You made him feel warm… whole. Like you held a piece of his soul that he didn’t even know he was missing until he met you.

Argh. He couldn’t help his stupid feelings. Oh well. As long as he kept quiet about them, he’d be ok. You’d be ok. It was enough what you all had now. He crawled up toward your face to move some hair that had fallen over your cheek, smiling as you mumbled something incoherently. Heh. He crawled back down under your hand so he could hug and nuzzle your fingers against his skull. Yeah, this was enough. He was thankful just to have this. This…

“I love you,” you mumbled, before you sighed and started rubbing his back again.

Bob froze.

Uh...

Did you just say what he thought you just said?

If so, that was the second time he heard you say something like that…

But… even if you had said that… it wasn’t him, was it?

No.

It couldn’t be. Impossible.

You were probably dreaming about something else.

Yeah, definitely dreaming about something else.

Argh, stupid Bob. Wishful thinking.

And now you were snoring as your hand rested on him.

All the same, it didn’t stop him from whispering back, “I love you too,” as he settled down to sleep wrapped around your fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuugh, the fluffff! >~<
> 
> [Tumblr Link](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com)


	31. Chapter 26: Court

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope your *holiday* was nice! 
> 
> Hope you all have a tolerable what's left of this godawful yea... I mean, a happy remainder of 2016! ^^;;
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is loosely based off some of my own few experiences in court. Haha, am clearly not well-versed in law, so keep that in mind. ^^;;;
> 
> _______________________________

Ugh, who decided that wearing uncomfortable clothes and shoes was “dressing up” and comfy clothes like pjs and baggy shirts wasn’t dressing up? Who was in charge of that decision? Because whoever it was, you had some choice words for them.

Bob growled as he wrestled with the tiny buttons on his own collard shirt. This was definitely the first (and probably only) time he’d ever put it on.

“You don’t have to go,” you said as you reached over to help him. He pushed your hand away, making an irritated noise.

“I’ve got it. I’m goin’,” he grumbled as he continued to fiddle with the buttons.

“But you don’t have to. I’ll be fine. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Argh, I said I’m going, dammit!” he barked as he finally wrestled the final button into place. “Stop tryin’ to shield me from stuff all the time! Just ‘cause I’m small doesn’t mean I can’t handle stuff! Stop treating me like some helpless little thing ya need to protect! Shit!”

“Hey.” You got down to eye level with him as he huffed and rubbed the back of his skull. “I’m sorry. Maybe I am being overprotective… I guess I’m just nervous about this whole mess. But I’ve never seen you as ‘helpless’ or a ‘thing.’ Please don’t think that… don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad at ya,” he sighed. “I’m sorry… this whole thing’s just got me frustrated. I know ya didn’t mean any of that. I just wish I could do somethin’ about all this so you didn’t have ta deal with it…”

“You wish you could go and leave me safely at home?” you said, raising an eyebrow.

“Alright, fine. Yeah. Maybe. Somethin’ like that.”

“Hypocrite,” you said as you reached out to smooth the end of his shirt that had bunched around his ribs.

He grumbled but didn’t push you away this time.

You smiled. “I admit though, it’ll be nice having you there… not having to do this alone. I’ve never been to court before. Think there will be a jury there or something? Think I’ll get to yell out ‘OBJECTION!’ or anything like that?”

“Heh. You play too many video games. I don’t think it’ll be like that. Might be more fun if it was.” He paused, sighing. “I think you’re right though. Things’ll be ok.”

***

Turns out court was… way more boring than you expected. Well, after the initial hassle you faced at the front door when they realized you had a Bitty on your shoulder. Luckily when you showed them the citation involved him too, they let you through.

When you finally found the right courtroom, you had to sit with Bob fidgeting on your shoulder in a crowd of several people all getting called up one by one to get their court stuff taken care of too. There was someone claiming a speedometer malfunction to try to get out of speeding ticket, someone suing a car repair company after their car was returned with missing hubcaps, and a woman with pictures and thermometer readings taken from her garage where she was accused of leaving her dog in extreme heat. No jury. Just a judge and each officer who either gave the ticket or citation or whatever to the accused. The officer that gave you your citation was sitting with the other officers.

Finally, you and that officer from the Haunt were called to approach the bench by the court clerk. Bob seemed tense as he sat still, clutching at your hair. You were tense too. Oh god, would the judge ask you questions? You hadn’t prepared anything to say. You didn’t have pictures like the garage dog woman had. You hadn’t brought anything! Should you have? Crap.

“Do you have an opening statement?” the judge asked the officer.

“No, Your Honor,” he said.

The judge woman looked bored as she looked at a paper in front of her and then glanced up at you. “You are charged with violating section 87-43, disturbing the peace. Would you like to make an opening statement?” she asked you.

“I’m sorry?” you asked. Crap, you thought you had prepared for this. You should have prepared more.

“Please tell me in your own words what happened the night of October 11,” she said, looking slightly annoyed.

You told her everything you could remember, kind of stumbling over some stuff and hoping you weren’t incriminating yourself or Bob or anything. You glanced at Bob now and again who was sweating and remaining quiet.

“Did you hire an attorney or would you like the court to appoint one?” the judge asked.

“No Your Honor,” you said. “I… I would like to pay the fine.”

“So you’re pleading guilty?” She raised an eyebrow at you.

“Y-yes. I’m sorry for what happened… I would like to just pay the fine. And maybe do some community service instead of jail?” Ugh, you hoped what you read about this stuff was true. That if you pled guilty, you could just pay the fine and avoid coming back. You really didn’t want to come back and have to go through a whole trial.

“Hm,” the judge said as she glanced over your citation again. “This is your first citation you’ve gotten, correct?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” you said.

“Since this is your first offense and the situation is… somewhat unusual,” she glanced at Bob, “My decision is you have to pay half the fine, the court costs, and do 20 hours of community service. Just make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.” She looked back up at you as you stood frozen in place. Was that it? It went better than you hoped it would?

“You are dismissed,” she said, giving you an almost bored look as she shuffled to the next paper in her pile.

“Oh, um, thank you,” you said as you awkwardly hurried back down the aisle and out of the courtroom.

God, you didn’t notice how stuffy it was in that courtroom until you were out of it and felt like you could breathe again. Geez, you were shaking now that everything was over with.

“You ok?” Bob asked quietly from your shoulder.

“Yeah. Yeah,” you said as you followed the signs to make your way over to pay your fine and get your paperwork for community service. “You ok?”

“Yeah,” Bob said. He kinda looked like he would be sick… if skeletons could get sick.

“Yeah,” you repeated. “It’s all good. No jail! Smaller fine, and community service isn’t a big deal. Hey! We could do some volunteering at the local animal shelter. That would be cool, right?” You said as cheerfully as you could, trying to put Bob at ease.

“Sure… yeah…” he said, entirely unconvincingly. Ah man, there was the guilt on his face again. You’d address it later. Right now, you just needed to pay your fine and get the paperwork.

***

“Seriously, it could have gone a lot worse,” you told Bob as you drove the both of you home. “Besides, I’ve always wondered how they ran things at that shelter. Seems like a nice one. It’ll be cool volunteering there!”

Bob grunted but didn’t say anything as he stared through the windshield. Nope. This wouldn’t do. You weren’t going to let him get all mopey again.

You raised a hand up to your mouth and made the loudest fart noise you could into your palm. Bob actually jumped and whipped his head around, giving you a stunned look.

“What the fuck?!” he squeaked.

You wrinkled your nose. “Eww. You tell me. Nasty. All farting up my car.”

He just stared at you. “What… that’s not even… seriously? What, are we kids now? Just… no. No.”

Stoplight. Good timing. You turned your head and while keeping eye contact with him, blew out an extended raspberry. Bob tried to maintain his annoyed expression. He failed. He put a hand over his face, trying not to laugh.

“What, are we kids now?” you imitated his voice as the light turned green. He let out a snort. “Things turned out ok! You don’t need to beat yourself up. Quit being an edge lord.”

“Edge lord, huh?” he said. “That’s your plan ta make me not beat myself up? Insults and fart noises?”

“It’s called ‘tough love,’ my dude,” you said, laughing.

“Love?” he asked.

You smiled, watching the road ahead as you drove. “Yeah, I…” Your phone pinged, interrupting whatever you were going to say.

That oh-so-familiar ping.

What. The. Fuck.

You glanced over at Bob, and he was staring where your phone was with darkened sockets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See ya in 2017!


	32. Chapter 27: Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve! This party person went to bed early. XD
> 
> Anyways, on with the chapter...  
> ____________________________________________

“No, you’re not digging out anyone’s eyes, and no, I’m not reading the text. I don’t even care what it’s about!” You said as you hit the button to delete the text before either one of you could read it. “There, it’s done! And no! No. Stop. Don’t give me that look. I will NOT let you feel guilty for that asshole’s actions! I should have been done with Ray long before any of that other ‘really bad day’ stuff happened.”

“Ya sure ignoring this is really a good idea?” Bob asked, his face doing a thing that clearly looked like he thought it wasn’t.

“Look, cutting toxic people out of one’s life is always a good idea! Stop with the mopey, guilty Bitty face. This isn’t your fault so stop.”

“It’s just… What if it… If I hadn’t…” Bob was standing on the kitchen counter with his arms folded, clearly ignoring you telling him not to feel guilty.

“Alright,” you sighed. Bob was still on the path to mopey Bitty. “I guess this calls for drastic measures.”

“D-drastic measures?” He asked, suddenly looking less mopey and more nervous. Well, it was a start.

“Mhm,” you nodded at him gravely as you reached out to pick him up.

He let you, eyeing you curiously. “W-what are ya gonna do?”

Hm. You had to think of something to cheer him up. Burgers always seemed to work but ugh, you literally couldn’t afford it right now. Hm, what always cheered you up when you were depressed (well, besides dumping your feelings in the ol’ journal)?

“Blanket fort,” you answered seriously.

“…what? Blanket fort?”

“You’re having some feelings. Serious feelings call for less serious surroundings,” you said as you set him down on the back of the couch so you could start removing the sofa cushions.

“That… that doesn’t even make any sense!” He watched you work with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

You propped the cushions against the arms sofa, draping a blanket over the whole thing. “There. Taa daa! What do you think?” You asked, grinning.

“Uh… It’s not much of a fort. What’s this even for?”

“Psh, don’t judge it before you’ve even gone inside! Come on.” You crawled into the “fort,” ducking so your head wouldn’t push the blanket off. Ah man, the sofa was a lot less comfy without the cushions. A necessary sacrifice that must be made for the walls.

Bob walked in after you, looking all kinds of dubious. “Ok… yeah. Uh, Tiny, I hate to break this to ya, but it’s still not overly impressive.”

“Whatever. I’ll have you know this is an A+ topnotch blanket fort. I doubt you’ve been in a nicer one!”

“Heh. Guess you’ve got me there. Can’t say that I have… this bein’ the first one I’ve been in and all.”

“See? There you go.” You stretched out your legs, trying to get comfortable and at the same time trying to leave room for Bob.

“So… uh, what now?” Bob asked as he picked up an old dime to examine it.

“Oh hey! Loose sofa change! It’s good luck. Congrats!” You grinned.

He gave you yet another dubious look as he continued to fiddle with the coin.

“Anyway,” you continued, “Now for the challenge to see who gets to rule the blanket fort.”

“Heh heh, what? Are ya just making this up as ya go along?” He put the dime down looking somewhat amused as you clutched your chest in mock-offense.

“Of course not! Everyone knows that once you build a blanket fort, it is customary to see who gets to rule it! Blanket forts need rulers. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” he parroted then sighed. “Listen, I know what you’re tryin’ to do. Ya don’t need to…”

“Aha! I see you’re already trying to back out of the challenge. I don’t blame you. I’d be intimidated to take on the reigning blanket fort champion too.”

“Tiny, seriously…”

“No seriousness allowed in the fort,” you cut him off. “Remember. Less serious. Them’s the rules.”

“Heh, alright, fine. So what’s this challenge?” Bob asked.

“Yeah, the challenge… um…”

“You’re definitely makin’ this up as ya go along.”

“No, I’m not! Sshh. The challenge… Oh! Yeah, the challenge is, we stare each other down and make faces or tell jokes, and whoever smiles first loses.”

“And how’s that fair? I’m always smiling bein’ a skeleton and all,” Bob pointed to his toothy permanent grin, giving you an exasperated look.

“No you’re not! I know the difference between your regular doofy face and your smiling face. Your little bony face is more expressive than you think and I can see the corners of your mouth stretching up and your eye sockets get all squished when you smile.” You tapped the side of his face with your finger as he actually did smile. “Hah, like that! Hm, looks like I’ve won already,” you laughed.

“S’ not fair,” he said quietly, staring at you as he reached up to hold your finger.

He was giving you that unreadable look again… making your heart do funny things as you stared back, now stroking along his cheekbone.

_I love you. Scares ya, doesn’t it?_

You jerked your hand back, confused.

Bob startled and looked away, rubbing the back of his skull.

“Uh.. w-well, I… uh, I guess ya won, huh? Heh,” he said as he folded his arms, unfolded them, and then decided to occupy his hands fiddling with the dime again. All the while looking anywhere but your face.

Why? Why had that suddenly came to mind? What he had said, that was months ago…

Bob was starting to give you worried glances. What… oh, he had said something. Yeah, right. Blanket fort. Contest. Cheering Bob up.

“Right… yes. Contest. Um… yeah…” Yeah. What was wrong with you? You blinked and shook your head, as if you could shake away whatever thoughts you were trying not to think about.

“Uh…” he continued to fiddle with the dime, his skull red. “C-can I ask…”

“I should make us lunch,” you said quickly (too quickly), hopping out of the “fort” and letting the blanket flap close behind you. It had suddenly felt a little too warm and claustrophobic in there.

“Uh… o-ok…” Bob said as you escaped to the kitchen.

No, not escaped. You were… lunch. Lunching. The lunch thing. Food always cheered Bob up. Yup, that was why you felt the sudden urge to make ramen immediately. Most definitely. Right…

Right. Get out the pot to make ramen… no, wrong cupboard. Gah, how long have you lived here? Geez. Get the water boiling, then add the noodle brick. Think. About. Ramen.

Don’t think about other stuff.

Like feelings. What even are feelings? You didn’t have feelings.

Wrong.

Dangerous.

Scary.

Wrong.

Just wrong.

_Please don’t ever feel like you have to hide whatever you’re feeling or thinking. Not with me. And in return, I won’t do that with you._

You did say that, didn’t you? Hypocrite. But what were you even feeling if you were feeling anything? Ugh!

You rubbed your temples with the heels of your hands. Ugh, did you even understand your own feelings? What were you even thinking?

“So…” Bob said making you squeak and jump, almost knocking the pot off the stove.

You quickly grabbed the handle, righting it again as Bob watched you from the doorway, his arms folded over his chest. Ah geez, why were you so weird around him all of a sudden? What was wrong with you? Geez, you still hadn’t said anything. God, he was probably going to ask you something weird…

“So,” he said again, “your blanket fort… it’s stupid. Like your stupid face.”

“What?” You turned around, staring at him, confused. What the hell?

“Yeah, ya heard me. Didja really think all that would cheer me up?” He was watching you carefully, seemingly gauging your reaction.

“Um, maybe?” Why was he being a little asshole all of a sudden? He didn’t exactly look angry…

“Welp, ya failed. I’m not cheered up at all.” He sighed, shaking his head. “At least now you’re doin’ something useful by cooking us up some food. Though what you’re cookin’ can barely be considered food.”

“Really? Really!? You ungrateful little shit!” You snapped. Why was he being like this? Wait…

“And there ya go again with the insults.” He actually smirked.

Oh. You saw what he was doing…

“You started it,” you said as you cracked a smile despite yourself.

“Heh, what of it? That’s how we relate to each other, right? That’s how we’ve always related ta each other… insults and fart noises. Right… pal?” he said, keeping his face neutral.

“Insults and fart noises,” you confirmed.

Yeah, that’s how it was. Just two pals who shared a place and the occasional insult. Nothing weird.

Whatever he had said months ago, he didn’t mean it like that.

Yeah. Just two besties living together… nothing more. Gah, your brain could go some weird places sometimes…

Bob was now on the counter, watching the pot indifferently as it boiled. He seemed to be thinking about something until he noticed you watching him and he gave you a small smile.

It definitely wasn’t a sad smile…

_Just pals._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, anyway, I need two names for Bitties and you guys seem creative and all. Never you mind what for! Totally not for next chapter or anything... ^^;; 
> 
> And if there are a bunch, maybe we can vote on them on the [ Tumblr ](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com) ? Whatcha all think?


	33. Chapter 28: Killer Intros

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the many, many great name suggestions! Based on the 2 repeat name suggestions and the one vote on tumblr (Haha, thanks glitchverse), I ended up picking 3 names. 
> 
> I really appreciate ya going along with my impulsive vagueness. You all are sweet! ^-^
> 
> Anyways, thanks to the snow and ice and having to stay indoors, I managed to finish this chapter. Wooo! *confetti* 
> 
> There’s a perspective shift in the middle (it’ll be noted) that kinda goes back to earlier events. Hopefully it won’t be too confusing! ^^;;
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading! Hope you’re staying warm and 2017 is being good to you thus far!  
> _____________________________

Today was the first day of community service and you were actually looking forward to it. You had seen many a client bring in animals they had gotten from the shelter. From what you’d seen, the shelter really seemed to have their act together.

It also seemed that they were used to having people come in for court-appointed community service hours and had given you clear instructions on when to show up and who to talk to. Bob had insisted on coming with you and luckily, the person you spoke with at the shelter didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

Bob held onto your hair as you walked through the door, a little bell above the door jingling to announce your entry. To the right of the door was a large bird cage which housed a crow with a crooked beak. Behind the desk a fat orange cat lay sprawled across some papers as a young woman typed on her computer.

“Good morning, how may I help you?” She said as she smiled at you.

“I’m here to meet Rose for my community service hours,” you said. “Cleaning kennels?”

“Oh! Yes, yes. I remember speaking with you! I’m Rose.” She pointed to her name badge. “You’re right on time! Oh! You have a Bitty too! Aww, he’s so cuuute,” she cooed. Bob cut his eyes to you and made a face. Luckily she didn’t seem to notice as she continued, motioning you to follow. “Come, come. I’ll introduce you to our other volunteer and you both can get started on cleaning kennels! He has two Bitties with him too. I think you two will get along just great!”

Great. Your last experiences with people who had Bitties wasn’t the best… Though you’d be lying if you said you weren’t at least a little curious. Maybe this guy was nice to his Bitties? Maybe he was a good person? And the thought of Bob getting to interact with other Bitties sounded like a really good thing. Though with having court-appointed community service, maybe he wasn’t 100% good…. and wow, ok, weren’t you just a hypocrite? Sheesh. Either way, with two Bitties, he was probably pretty wealthy.

Ok, maybe not.

The guy that stood in front of you was around your age, had a full beard and gauged ears. He was wearing an old flanel shirt and jeans.

And was currently trying to coax a Lil Bro Bitty and Sansy Bitty down from the top of a kennel.

The two Bitties were sitting side-by-side, smirking down at the dude while swinging their feet just out of reach.

The Lil Bro’s tiny orange eye lights flicked over in your direction as you entered the kennel area. He nudged the Sansy’s elbow nodding toward you.

When beard dude noticed the Bitties staring at you (or most likely staring at Bob), he finally turned around and noticed.

“Woah. Sorry, didn’t see you all there,” the guy said, briefly shooting a look at the two Bitties sitting above him on the kennel.

Rose introduced you and beard dude (Ace) and then dashed off when the front door jingled.

Ace scratched his beard as he studied you and Bob while you awkwardly stood there and Bob shifted on your shoulder. The Sansy Bitty made some small gestures to the Lil Bro who grinned and whispered something back.

“So,” Ace said, addressing Bob, “Edgy Bitty, huh? That’s hella dope! You got a name little friend?”

Bob just grunted.

“No worries man,” he said, then jerked his thumb in the direction of the other two Bitties. “These two trouble-makers are Canary and Indigo, or Indy for short. Canary’s a Lil Bro and Indy’s a Sansy. Yeah, I know, I know. They came up with their own names though.” He shrugged.

“His name is Bob,” you supplied, since Bob didn’t seem like he was in a talking mood. Ace seemed like an ok guy thus far and you really wanted Bob to have the chance to befriend the other Bitties. Being cooped up with one human all the time probably wasn’t very healthy for him mentally.

“Bob, huh?” Canary called from his position on top of the kennel.

“What of it?” Bob snapped back.

“Be nice,” you whispered to Bob. “Do you want to go hang out with them?”

“If I wanted to go hang out with them, I’d do it!” He hissed at you. “Stop talkin’ for me and stop talkin’ to me like I’m a child!”

Well then. Pissy Bob mode activated. At this rate, he wouldn’t go make friends on his own. Consider this an intervention, Bob. You gently scooped him off your shoulder.

“Do what you want,” you said, setting him down on some shelves along the wall beside the kennels.

He looked briefly hurt and uncertain but his expression hardened as the other two Bitties appeared at the end of the shelf across from him (wow, they were fast too!). You hid a smile as you turned around to go chat with Ace and give the Bitties time to get to know one another. This was a good thing. He needed this.

“So,” Ace said, as he spared a glance at the Bitties before turning back to you, “What are you in for?”

You gave him a questioning look and he vaguely motioned around at the empty kennels. “Community service. Was yours related to your little friend too?” He handed you the hose as he grabbed a scrub brush, getting right to work. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Just curious.”

“Oh, no, that’s fine… I guess we um, caused a public disturbance or something because people were being jerks to Bob and we both got angry and overreacted? There’s not much more to the story than that…” Ace scrubbed the kennel as you sprayed it out, nodding at your explanation.

“People can be shitty,” he agreed. Then he stifled a smile as he looked down at what he was scrubbing. Oh god, him too? What was it with Bitties and puns? “I’m sorry that happened to you guys,” he added.

“Thanks,” you said as you both got ready to switch kennels.

Spray, scrub, and spray again. This really wasn’t too bad as far as volunteer work went. Oddly satisfying even. You glanced over at the Bitties. It looked like Bob was relaxing a bit as he and the taller one talked… Canary, that was his name. Good. Maybe he could make friends with them. Maybe you could have them all over sometimes and everyone could hang out? Go to Bitty-friendly places together? That would be good for Bob, right? Hm, that would mean you’d have to put in some effort to get to know Ace. Well… he didn’t seem like a bad guy thus far… Would it really be so bad getting to know other people? No. No it wouldn’t.

“So… um, what… what are you in for?” You asked as you finished spraying the kennel.

Ace gave a crooked grin as he started scrubbing. “Well… Canary and Indy kind of like to play pranks. And sometimes, they take advantage of the fact that I don’t always keep an eye on them. You know those little road signs that flash messages about roadwork and junk? Apparently, they thought it would be funny to hack one of them up by the bridge on I-348. Still don’t know how they got all the way out there. Lucky I found them. Not lucky it was after the po-po had already cornered them.”

“Oh wow, I’m sorry. But seriously, they hacked the sign? What’d it say?”

He shook his head, grimacing. “Bridge out. Increase to jumping speed.”

“Pfft… Hahaha, that’s kind of awesome!” You laughed, earning you another crooked smile from Ace.

“Looking back, I guess it’s sort of funny. Really wasn’t funny at the time tho.”

“I imagine not,” you said back, smiling. So Ace’s Bitty friends sounded like they were pretty intelligent too. This was good.

“Yeah, well, they mean well. I mean, I think they do. They’ve had it rough being so smart and all. Each of them were returned to the pet shop where I used to work at least two or three times each. Not really conductive to making good pets I guess.” Ace shrugged.

They really shouldn’t be pets at all. Intelligent, sentient beings shouldn’t be pets. But you didn’t know how he’d react to all that so instead you just said, “Yeah.”

“So how did you come about becoming a guardian for Bob? Edgy Bitties are pretty rare nowadays.”

Said Bitty startled you by appearing on your shoulder suddenly.

“Bob! What…”

“Get the fuck away from _my_ human!” he growled at an equally startled Ace.

  
**********Bob’s POV, slightly earlier**********

“Do what you want,” you said, looking slightly annoyed as you set him down on a shelf.

Ah shit, he had snapped at you and now you didn’t even want him near you. He had to apologize. But before he could, Canary and Indy had already made their way over to him. Great. And then you were turning around to go talk to that big, lumbering dude. Just great.

Canary was significantly taller than Bob which was mildly annoying. Indy was the same height as Bob. They both wore hooded sweaters, Indy’s was sort of blue-purple and Canary’s was a yellow-orange… Wait… Did they honestly name themselves after their favorite colors or something? Geez. Indy wore black basketball shorts and pink slippers while Canary wore brown cargo shorts and red and white sneakers.

Hm, they seemed to be sizing Bob up as well.  
  
“I see your human just kind of makes your decisions for you too, huh? Heh, humans, amirite?” Canary looked over toward Ace and finding him distracted by talking with you, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a match.

Bob just grunted with his arms folded over his chest, watching the smoke curl around Indy’s skull. Gross. How did he even get cigarettes and matches Bitty-sized? And why smoke anyway when he probably didn’t get anything out of it?

“Guess you don’t talk much. That’s fine. Neither does my bro Indy here. Though he can,” Canary said as he took another drag from his cigarette.

Indy shrugged and grinned, making the sign for “lazy.” Huh. Sign language.

Canary chuckled. “That might be true. Kind of a design flaw with all three of our Bitty types, huh? Heh. Indy here’s kind of an expert when it comes to our kind. Though some of his theories are kinda bone-headed if you ask me.”

“Theories?” Bob ignored both the pun and implication of being lazy for now, curiosity winning out over his irritation.

“Heh, yeah. You know, stuff like what souls are made of. Where Bitty souls originated. That kind of stuff. See, I don’t think Bitty souls were lab-created like our bodies. I think our souls were pulled from alternate universes.”

“Alternate universes?” Bob raised a bone eyebrow. “That’s impossible. Pretty sure humans’ and Bitties’ souls are the same, recycled, reincarnated sounds that have always been around.”

Canary shrugged, taking another drag of his cigarette. “Who knows? Indy thinks we’re all just characters in some story.”

Indy frowned and started signing so quickly that Bob couldn’t keep up with it. Canary chuckled holding up his hands. “Yeah, yeah. I know, bro, I know. Impossibilities and vitalism and whatnot. I just shortened the idea. I don’t really care to go into all the science behind it, ok?”

Bob heard you laugh and turned to see Ace smiling and saying something to you. You were smiling as you said something back. What the hell? You were always so guarded around others, especially people you didn’t really know. What the hell were you two talking about?

Canary let out a low whistle, pulling Bob’s attention back to the two Bitties in front of him. “Wow buddy, if looks could kill,” Canary mused. He dropped his cigarette butt and ground it under his shoe.

“What’s his deal anyway?” Bob asked, nodding his head in the direction of Ace.

“The human? Controlling. Thinks he’s smarter than me and my bro. Eh, pretty much like any other human.”

Indy bumped Canary’s arm and gave him a mischievous look, running his thumb in a cutting motion across his own neck vertebrae.

“Yeah. I guess there’s that too,” Canary mused, seemingly fighting a smile.

“What? What’s with that?” Bob asked.

“Huh?”

“The thing with the thumb across the neck.” Bob demonstrated, repeating the motion. “That thing. The fuck is that?”

“Oh, that. Yeah. Our human’s kind of a serial killer,” Canary shrugged, as if he didn’t say anything completely horrible just then.

“He what?!” Bob went to dash to you but Canary reached out and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

“Woah there buddy, calm down. He doesn’t kill Bitties. It’s fine.” Indy seemed like he was trying not to laugh.

Bob shoved Canary’s hand off, enraged. “Calm down?! Your human’s a serial killer and he’s gettin’ all chummy with MY human and ya tell me to calm down?!” Bob went to teleport again and again he was stopped by Canary. “Get off me!”

“Heh, heh. Look. Buddy. Pal. What are you all worried about anyway, huh? All humans are the same. There’s billions of them. So what if one or ten of them get picked off? Nyeh heh heh, wait…”

Too late. Bob managed to slip his grip and dash his way to your shoulder, startling you.

“Bob! What…” You started, before he cut you off.

“Get the fuck away from _my_ human,” Bob growled up at Ace.

“Bob! What’s gotten into you?!” you squeaked.

No. No way was he gonna let this Ace guy anywhere near you! Bob had to protect you. This time, this time he would protect you. Bob snarled as Ace gave him a confused look and then then… wait. As Ace looked over where Canary and Indy were, he closed his eyes and covered his face with his hand, letting out a groan.

Bob looked over too and saw Canary and Indy laughing so hard they had to use each other for support.

…

Was… they were joking?

Oh.

“What happened? Are you ok?” you whispered to Bob.

Oh. He was ok alright. Just swell.

“Yup,” he said darkly, his grin stretching as he watched the other two Bitties get ahold of themselves.

Yup, Bob was better than ok.

And his new Bitty _friends_ were in for a _fun_ time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I may take a short hiatus to catch up my writing. I’ve usually got a 2-3 chapter buffer for whatever I’m writing but alas, no buffer this time. Am completely caught up. Yay real-life taking up my valuable fan fiction writing time. Sheesh, I’ve got to get my priorities straight, right? Heh, see you all when I see ya! ^~^;


	34. Chapter 29: Backstory Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're having a most excellent weekend. I finished this half chapter and figured I'd give it to you now. ^-^ I should post the second half either tomorrow or Monday. Enjoy!  
> __________________________________

“I make and sell organic cereal bars to one of the local farmers markets,” Ace told you sheepishly as Canary and Indy giggled from his shoulder.

All five of you were waiting in the break room for the shelter workers to transfer dogs over from their dirty kennels to the now clean and dry kennels. Apparently court-appointed volunteers weren’t allowed to handle the shelter animals. That made sense. After cleaning the next batch of kennels, you’d be done for the day.

Bob was being a little too calm and good-natured after the other Bitties’ little “prank.” You’d have expected him to be pissed after his new, probably-not-now friends told him Ace was a serial killer and implied you were his next victim. Geez. You probably would’ve been angry too had someone told you something like that, prank or not. But Bob sat there cooly with his fake grin in place, not saying much but not being particularly grumpy either. It wasn’t sitting well with you.

Ace sighed as he side-eyed Canary. “A troll does not a good friend make. You need to get some new material, dude. This isn’t the first time you’ve used that joke.” He wrinkled his nose. “Aaand you’ve been smoking again. Didn’t we talk about that?”

Canary shrugged. “Eh, what can I say? I’m a _serial_ offender.”

Indy started silently cracking up again as Ace groaned. “Seriously, dude? No. I think you should apologize to Bob.”

“Nope. No need,” Bob said as he remained quietly grinning. Definitely not a happy grin…. Not worrisome at all…

“Woah, look at Bob being the bigger Bitty!” Ace praised. “And here I heard Edgies were supposed to be all salty! Good on you, little dude, for breaking the mold!”

Bob ground his teeth as he forcefully grinned wider. Ah man, if he kept doing that, you were afraid his skull would crack…

Time to change the subject. Quickly. “Ok! Well, um… so… so cereal bars! Is… is that what you do for a living?”

“Nah. Supplemental income. I’ve worked a few odd jobs here and there. Currently I work in a department store. Though someday I hope to sustain my own means of living. Save up enough to get a small patch of land. Grow my own food. Fall off the grid. Sell my wares. Give up working for the corporate machine. That kinda stuff.” Ace scratched at his beard, staring off with a dreamy look in his eyes before snapping back to reality. “I’ve already gotten rid of my car. Only need my trusty bike now for transportation. One less expense. Plus, cars are bad for the environment.”

“Nyeh, you just sold your car because you lost your job at that crappy pet store where you used to work,” Canary said.

Ace shrugged the shoulder not currently supporting Bitties. “Meh. Details.”

Indy nudged Canary and pointed at the side of his nose hole, twisting his finger. Canary nodded and both Bitties disappeared, only to reappear on a countertop a few feet away.

“And off they go,” Ace muttered as he turned to see where they ended up, folding his arms and leaning against the wall.

“Think I’ll join ‘em,” Bob said, disappearing and reappearing in front of the other two Bitties, much to your and apparently their surprise too.

This couldn’t be good… Well, ok. They seemed to be just chatting. Hopefully Bob didn’t try to kill them. You’d be sure to keep an ear open for the screams just in case.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Ace asked, drawing your attention back.

“I work in a vet office. Vet assistant.”

“So like… vet as in veterans or vet as in animals?”

“Vet as in animals. Though you’d be surprised how often we get confused phone calls.” You sighed, thinking about the fact that you’d had to add the number of the local department of veterans affairs to the “frequently requested numbers” list at the front desk to redirect those wayward calls.

“So veterinary. Is that how you ended up with Bob? No offense, you don’t look like the type to be purchasing luxury-“ he made air-quotes “-pets.”

You raised an eyebrow, folding your arms and giving him a pointed look. “Likewise. Much less two of them. I can’t imagine the pet store where you worked just let you take them with you for nothing.”

He ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the Bitties with a somewhat guilty look. “Yeah, well, funny story that.” Ace briefly glanced at the Bitties again who were busy talking. He lowered his voice, “And by funny I mean not at all. The pet store where I used to work, they got tired of Canary and Indy’s shenanigans. Not to mention the stuff the two pulled with the store employees. Actually, management wanted to return them and get replacements.”

Returned and replaced. Deemed defective products. You knew what that meant for them.

“Yeah, judging from your look you know what would’ve happened if they were returned. So did I. I tried arguing with the manager. Tried offering solutions… like keeping them in the same tank to cut down on their escape attempts, offered to take full responsibility for their actions and keep an eye on them. I even offered to put them on layaway and take them home. But the boss knew how much I made. Hell, he wrote my paychecks. He knew I wouldn’t be able to afford them anytime soon and corporate frowned upon people bringing home merchandise that wasn’t paid for in full.”

“What did you do?”

Ace ran a hand through his hair again. “Well, that night, the same night after the boss had called the company to arrange a pickup, I was the only one closing, right? So I took them out of their tanks and put them outside. Told them to run. I knew they could understand. I figured they had some idea of the situation they were in. Apparently that was a bad move on my part.”

Ace paused, chewing on his lip and grimacing at the memory. You waited, hoping he’d go on.

“Anyway,” he continued, “Indy like completely shut down then and there. He just stood there staring up at me, not moving, eye lights gone and everything. Canary was like hella livid. Screamed on and on about how stupid I was and how much he hated humans. I’d never seen either one of them like that before. How was I supposed to know that Bitties couldn’t survive on their own? Anyway, I had to do something… hey, do you smell burning?”

Um… yes, yes you did.

You both looked over and saw smoke coming from a small trashcan over by the counter where the Bitties were standing.

Bob was standing with his arms folded, calmly watching the wisps of smoke rise from the small fire.

Indy was glancing between Bob, Canary, the trashcan, and then Ace who was rushing over to grab a smoldering paper.

Canary just stood there with a small pack of cigarettes in his hand, staring blankly at the smoking remains of paper that Ace was stomping out.

Ace turned, making a disgusted noise as he carefully snatched the tiny pack of cigarettes out of a stunned Canary’s hands.

“What did I tell you about smoking? What did I tell you about starting fires? Are you trying to get us all in trouble again? Come on man, think!” Ace barked and Canary flinched. “No more of this!” He crinkled the tiny cigarette pack between his thumb and forefinger, grinding them up and tossing them in the trash.

Bob appeared on your shoulder. “Yikes,” he whispered. “That Ace seems ta have a _hot_ temper.”

“Bob, no,” you whispered back.

Geez. You almost felt sorry for Canary as Ace continued to give him the third-degree (boo, puns were contagious). But Canary had picked on Bob and then tried to set a trash fire… you could understand Ace getting a little upset.

You could’t help but notice Bob’s smug expression and the angry looks he was getting from the other Bitties… Hm… was Bob somehow involved in this?


	35. Chapter 29.5:  Backstory Shenanigans POV Shift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Another chapter just a day later? Bonus!
> 
> Hah, yeah, this is basically the same chapter but from Bob's POV.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> PS: Don't smoke. It's bad and bad for ya, ok? Ok.  
> _________________________

**********Bob's POV**********

He was going to kill them.

The world was gonna be short two Bitties.

Cereal bars.

Cereal…

Serial…

He was going to kill them.

Bob heard Breakfast Bar Boy tell Canary to apologize to him.

“Nope,” Bob said quickly. “No need.” Argh, the last thing he wanted was a pun-laced snarky apology from Canary. Bob fought to maintain his smile.

“Woah, look at Bob being the bigger Bitty!” Hippy McHipster said to him condescendingly. “And here I heard Edgies were supposed to be all salty! Good on you, little dude, for breaking the mold!”

Bob’s grin stretched automatically.

Correction.  
  
The world was gonna be short two Bitties AND one stupid human.

You quickly changed the subject… back to that jerk and his life of cereal bars and hippy bullshit. A topic he seemed more than happy to go on and on about.

Meanwhile, you kept giving Bob nervous glances.

Geez, you didn’t have to look so worried. He wasn’t actually gonna kill anyone.

Probably.

Bob started tuning them all out, trying to take deep breaths to rein in his temper and keep his grin in place. He took in his surroundings: small room with a table and chairs, a small countertop by a sink. A single trashcan filled with crinkled papers. What looked to be a microwave off to the side of the counter.

Indy nudged Canary, signing: **boring**.

Canary nodded and both Bitties blipped over to the counter.

“And off they go,” mumbled Mr. Wanna-be Nature Boy.

Canary seemed to be waiting for a moment when his human wasn’t watching him, probably looking for the chance to smoke again.

Hm…

Heh heh, that gave Bob an idea.

“Think I’ll join ‘em,” Bob said before dashing over to the two Bitties himself.

They seemed surprised, jumping slightly as Bob appeared in front of them. You seemed worried, taking a half step toward him before you changed your mind and started talking with Yogi Beard.

Canary stood with his hands in his pockets, seemingly at ease but Bob could tell he was ready to spring at a moment’s notice. Indy had a similar stance.

“So, uh, pal. Bygones?” Canary offered.

“Why not?” Bob said as nonchalantly as he could.

“Nyeh heh. Glad to see you’re not too resentful.” Canary and Indy both exchanged looks, relaxing.

“Nope. Though I gotta ask. What made ya think it’d be funny to do what ya did?”

Indy tensed up again, keeping an eye on Bob. Canary was distracted as he went to take his cigarettes out but stopped and made an irritated noise when he caught What’s-His-Name looking over at them again. “Well, you seem a bit attached to your human.”

You and that other human started talking again, allowing Canary to pull out his cigarette box and pack them against his other hand. “And we figured you’d be defensive over a perceived threat to them. Guess we were right, huh? You’ve gotta admit, your reaction was pretty hilarious. Heh, we thoroughly japed you.”

Bob gritted his teeth, reminding himself not to kill him. Stick to the plan.

“Say,” he said through gritted teeth, making a point of clearing his non-existent throat and immediately changing his tone, “Say, can I have one’a those?”

Canary tilted his head to the side, frowning. “Really? You want one? From the look on your face before, I would have thought you didn't like these.”

Bob shrugged. “Dunno if I do or don't. Willin' ta try it. How about it… pal?”

Canary glanced at Indy who shook his head. **I wouldn’t** , he signed. Canary shrugged and handed Bob a cigarette and match anyway, keeping an eye on him as he went to fish one out for himself.

Bob lit it and took a drag, immediately making a face. “Argh, just as I thought. They’re garbage. Just like both of ya.”

Canary comically paused, gawking at Bob. “Excuse me?”

Indy was seemingly waiting for Bob to make a move against them.

“Ya heard me. Garbage. Ya lucky I’m in a forgivin’ kinda mood today.” He watched them as he took another drag, just to keep the disgusting thing lit. The smoke curled slowly around his darkened eye sockets. “But if ya ever even hint at threatening my human again, ya both are _toast_.” He flicked the still lit cigarette over their heads, showering them with a few small sparks before it landed perfectly in the trashcan on the floor behind them.

Canary looked shocked, still holding his cigarette pack. He narrowed his eye sockets. “Buddy… Pal… was that a threat?”

Bob folded his arms over his chest, grinning as you and their human noticed the now smoldering paper in the trash.

Heh, that worked better than he expected.

Ace seemed livid as he stomped the fire out and then snatched Canary’s cigarettes away from him yelling all the while. Oh man, he was really _lighting_ into him. Heh heh.

Yup, time to leave the scene.

Bob dashed over to you so he could watch things unfold from his perch on your shoulder.

Bonus. You didn’t seem happy with how Ace was yellin’ at Canary.

“Yikes,” Bob whispered. “That Ace seems ta have a _hot_ temper.”

“Bob, no,” you whispered back. You chewed on the inside of your cheek as you watched the situation unfold with a not-so-happy expression. Yup, Ace was definitely earning some negative points in your book. Good.

Canary shot an angry look at Bob as Ace continued to chide him. Heh, Canary looked pretty pissed.

Indy… he looked like someone just handed him a challenge. A challenge he would gladly accept. Indy raised his hands, slowly grinning as he signed: **game on**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Tumblr](http://www.lywellen.tumblr.com) link.


	36. Chapter 30: Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tropes you say? What tropes? ^^; 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!  
> _______________________________________

“What the heck is this?” You said as you set your bag down on the kitchen table, frowning at the small box in your hands. This small box addressed to BiteMyBittySacrum (really?!) had been waiting at your front door after you got off work.

“Welcome home Tiny… Oh! It came!” Bob seemed excited as he appeared up on the table. You put the box down so he could gleefully open it.

Well… he attempted to.

Ah geez, did you help him and tick him off or let him struggle and open it himself… oh. Never mind. He got a corner free! Nice! Go Bob… oh, eww, he was using his teeth. Well… it seemed effective.

“Argh, plah eck! There! Fucking box…” He angrily kicked the box’s remains away, training his little eye lights on the contents now in his hands. “Huh. This actually looks pretty cool.”

You looked at the tiny keyboard he held, a perfect size for Bob minus the larger USB plug needed to connect the thing to a full-sized computer. It looked expensive.

“Where’d that come from?”

“Remember when I asked ya if I could get somethin’ sent here? This is the somethin’.” He grinned up at you before he blipped out of your sight, presumably over to the computer. Yup, there he was. Wow, he was getting faster at doing that… seemingly increasing the distance he could move.

“Holy hell, you sure you can’t actually teleport?” You asked as you came around the corner to watch him yank out your keyboard USB to replace it with the one previously draped over his shoulder.

“It doesn’t matter. Alright… downloadin’ software… there.” He tapped the caps lock key, watching the little green light turn on and off on his new keyboard. “Seems to be working’, now ta test this thing out… Sweet! It works! Heh heh, I’ll haveta get used to typin’ with my fingers instead of my feet and hands.”

You watched him for a bit as he pulled up his blog page, finger pecking the keys before trying two fingers at a time, then more. He’d get irritated every time he messed up and had to backspace. Well, just like most everything he did, you figured by the end of the week he’d probably get the hang of typing.

Since he seemed so absorbed with his new toy, you left him to fiddle with the keyboard while you went to make dinner. Ramen. Again. Ugh, after the next paycheck, you should probably buy some veggies or something. Didn’t Ace mention a local farmers market? Hah, he even gave you some kind of business card with perforations at the edges. Clearly printed on his own computer.

Ace seemed like a cool guy. Canary and Indy, from what little interaction you had with them, seemed to share quite a bit in common with Bob. Geez, at the end of the last volunteer session though, the whole time you and Ace finished up the kennels, the Bitties just shot not so happy looks at each other now and again and didn’t say anything else to each other. You still had the strong suspicion Bob was responsible for the fire but no one was saying anything. That whole thing could have been pretty dangerous had Ace not caught it right away. This thing between Bob, Indy, and Canary… it was problematic. The way Bob cut his eyes at Ace every time he so much as looked at you? That was also problematic. Sheesh, he was treating him almost as bad as he treated Dr. Rivera. And Ace didn’t even do anything to him! Eh, maybe that’s just how Bitties are? You and Bob didn’t get along at first either. Maybe next Saturday they’d start to get along better? Ugh, if things didn’t improve, you’d deal with it then. Best to let them work out their own problems. Unless one of them did something else destructive, then you’d have to say something.

Geez, what a situation. Your head hurt.

Anyway, produce at the farmers market was supposed to be less expensive than the local grocery store. Maybe you could go next Saturday after volunteering at the shelter? Eating like this night after night couldn’t be healthy...

***

...aand you jinxed yourself.

***

You woke up later, practically flinging Bob off of you as you rushed to the bathroom, emptying the contents of your stomach into the toilet.

Ugh. Great.

After flushing away that loveliness, you wobbled your way to the sink, washing out your mouth and scrubbing your face. God, vomiting was the worst. And now your nose and throat hurt and you were all shaky.

Perfect. Just perfect.

When was the last time you’d had a stomach bug? You couldn’t even remember. Working with the public every day, your immunity was strong. Yeah, you were strong. Super strong! This little bug was no match for you and would be gone by the morning!

You looked at the wall clock in the bathroom… Ok, you had like 3 hours to get over this before you had to get up. No sweat. You’ve got this! Three hours to sleep this off…

As you turned to stumble back to your room, you noticed Bob standing in the doorway, looking horrified.

“It’s ok,” you said hoarsely. “I’m fine.”

“Y-ya don’t sound fine. And that… with the… can humans just… is… is that normal? It looked so violent…” He was sweating.

“Hah, I thought you just ‘knew’ stuff about humans. Guess you’ve never seen someone puke before?” Ugh, standing and talking about it was a bad idea. Bad. Dizzy. Headache. You needed to lay back down.

“I’m fine,” you repeated as you walked past him, climbing back under the covers with a groan. You shivered as you pulled the covers up to your chin. When did it get so cold in your room?

Bob continued to watch you for a few seconds, little glowing red eyes shining from the bathroom doorway. Then those little eyes were right in your face. Ugh, good thing you were expecting it otherwise you might have jumped. He was putting his little skeletal hand on your cheek.

“Ya feel warmer than normal… I don’t think humans are suppose ta change temperatures… Are ya sick?” He definitely sounded worried.

“Nah. Just a little stomach bug or something. I’ll be fine. Seriously, don’t worry about it.” You closed your eyes. Your head was pounding. You were starting to feel nauseous again. Being awake was bad. Maybe you’d feel better in three hours.

Vaguely, you felt Bob’s tiny skeletal hand rubbing your cheek as you drifted into unconsciousness.

***

Your dream was strange.

You were standing in front of a large floor to ceiling picture window, staring a good 3 floors down into the canal flowing below you. The water looked calm and was clear enough that you could see all the way to the bottom. You slid the window open sideways and a salty breeze ruffled your hair. You noticed the canal connected to a larger river flowing as far as you could see. The sun sparkled off the water. The sounds of shorebirds could be heard in the distance. There was nothing standing between you, the open sky, and water below now as you stepped to the edge of the window.

“Jump,” said an unfamiliar voice behind you.

You turned and saw an unfamiliar man lounged lazily in the hotel chair.

“You know you want to. Don’t you want to swim?” He asked.

You vaguely heard Bob and Gary having a conversation in the hallway outside the door.

“I do,” you said. “But it’s so far down… I’m not sure it’s deep enough… and I didn’t bring a swimsuit…”

“Excuses,” he said as he crossed his legs and propped his hands behind his head. “The water is plenty deep. And you don’t need a swimsuit to swim there.” He motioned with his head toward the window as he gave you a knowing smile. “Jump.”

You stared uncertainly at the water below. It did look extremely inviting. And the man was right… you really did want to jump. You wanted to feel those calm waters surround you. You wanted to…

You stepped closer to the opening, the toe of your shoe hanging off the edge.

You felt sick.

The water was so beautiful below, but that plunge was so far. Would you really be ok? You still weren’t sure…

Your head hurt.

“Jump.”

You woke up, tripping and almost falling before you made it to the toilet. Just barely made it.

Your vision swam. Everything hurt. This little bug… maybe not so little.

After finishing cleaning yourself up again, you shakily got back into bed. The unforgiving sunlight was blaring into your bedroom window. The sounds of traffic seemed too loud behind the apartment.

“Ugh, what time is it?” You croaked out, shielding your eyes from the light.

“A little after noon,” Bob said as he watched you from the nightstand.

Noon!? Shit! Why didn’t your alarm go off? You were super late for work!

“Hey no! No! Wait! Stop! Get back in bed!” Bob was now standing at the edge of the nightstand, pushing against your arm as if he could actually push you back down. “I called Gary. Ya have the day off. Get. Back. In. Bed.” He gritted his teeth as he pushed you.

“Why… why did you do that?” You said against your scratchy throat. Ugh. You swallowed. “You… don’t mess with my phone without asking. You can’t…” Ugh, dizzy. Laying back down.

“Wait. Before ya pass out again… ya need to at least to drink something. Here…” He ran around and pushed a plastic bottle toward you. Was that Gatorade? How did he even…? Where did he even…?

You stared at it, not really feeling like putting anything on your stomach.

“Ya need to drink this. You’re probably dehydrated. Later, there’s some other food that…”

Ugh. Just the thought of eating made you feel queasy.

“Not yet! Not yet! No food! Just… just drink some.” He watched you with dim eye lights. He looked tired. Hunched. His eye sockets a bit darker. Why did he look so haggard? “Please?” He added.

Right. Gatorade. Ugh, fine.

You sat up a little, taking small sips.

“Sorry ’s not very cold. Heh, still can’t open the fridge or freezer.”

He really did look worried. He was watching your every move, while wringing the bottom hem of his shirt.

“This is fine. Thank you.” You tried to give him a small smile.

Critical failure, judging from his reaction. It probably looked more like a grimace. You gave up, laying back down and closing your eyes.

There was a tiny cold hand on your forehead. Ah man, was it because of your fever or was he really that worried?

“I’ll be ok,” you said. “Thanks for taking such good care of me. You’re the best.” He withdrew his hand. You peeked an eye open, hoping your encouragement would at least make him feel a little better.

Fail again. Geez. If anything, he looked guilty now, his bony forehead creased as he looked away. “I’m… uh… I’m gonna go take care of somethin’. Get some sleep… yell if ya need anything…” Then, he was gone.

You groaned and rolled over, trying to get comfortable. Ugh, why was Bob always like this? Was he blaming himself for something again? You really needed to have a talk with him…

But right now, you felt like garbage.

Later… when you felt better…


	37. Chapter 30.5: Tired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huzah, another update! Hope you all are having a lovely weekend.
> 
> This chapter is from Bob's POV what happened last chapter (if that makes sense).   
> ________________________________________________________________

**********Bob’s POV**********

You were really sick.

A cold sweat ran down the side of his skull as he watched you violently retch into the toilet and then stumble weakly back to bed. All the while insisting you were fine.

Bob felt your face as you were passing out. You were shivering but your face felt really hot. He knew humans weren’t supposed to change temperatures that drastically. Humans, like most living things, were supposed to maintain a sort of homeostasis which included a constant, stable temperature.

Unlike Bitties.

You weren’t supposed to be this warm.

As soon as you seemed to be asleep and Bob ensured that yes, you still seemed to be breathing fine, he went to look up your symptoms on your phone (he didn’t dare leave the room to use the computer, what if you stopped breathing?!).

Symptoms… vomiting…

Oh shit! If you vomited while you were passed out, you could aspirate and the acid could damage your lungs.

Bob darted over to you, frantically pressing his skull against your chest. Listening for anything that could indicate you were in distress….. Fuck. He didn’t know what he was even listening for!

He darted to the phone. Wheezing. He should listen for wheezing. Were you wheezing?

Back to you. No… he wasn’t hearing wheezing. He didn’t think so anyway…

Back to the phone. A stethoscope. He needed a stethoscope. Did you even have one of those? Did you carry one at work? Was there one in your bag? Could he even use the thing if you had one?

Your bag was so far away… He didn’t want to leave the room…

Ok. Ok. He’d just be satisfied that you seemed to be breathing fine and you weren’t wheezing. Moving on…

Causes… ingestion of toxins. Oh my god! Did you eat something toxic?! All you ate was Ramen! Was it toxic?! Were you poisoned?!

Drugs. Drugs could cause vomiting too! Were you drugged?! Did someone drug you at work to try to kill you?!

No… no, that didn’t even make any sense.

You had a fever too… He should look that up. You could have a heat exhaustion… no… extreme sunburn… no…. malignant tumor… What the hell was that? That didn’t sound good.

Time to look up malignant tumor…..

…

No.

He shakily pushed the phone away from himself, staring at you with blank eye sockets. Sweat dripped down the side of his skull.

No.

So many of these things pointed to possible death.

No.

Calm down.

Be rational.

Back over to you. You were still breathing. Your heart was beating steadily. You seemed stable (for now).

Fuck. Should he call for help? Were you really gonna die?

He wasn’t going to panic.

What did you say you thought you had before going to sleep… you didn’t mention any of the things he'd looked up.

Stomach bug. You said stomach bug. What the hell was a stomach bug?

Back to the phone. Stomach flu. Virus. Caused fever, vomiting, chills, achiness… yeah. Ok, yeah, this seemed to fit… Ok. Ok, this one was manageable….

Virus. Antibiotics were useless against it. You needed Rest. Fluids. Ok. He could do this. He could take care of you.

Shit. In order to get ya some water, he had to leave you. Would you be ok?

He could do this. He’d make sure to check on you every few minutes. He had to do this. Ok. He was doing this.

You also needed rest. That meant he had to cut your alarm off and call your work. Did you have work’s number saved in your phone?

Wait… he couldn’t just call your work while standing right beside you. It would wake you up. And you needed rest. And ya might try to fight him over it… He had to move your phone to the den. Hm… how was he gonna get the thing off the dresser? It was bigger than he was! And he couldn’t just shove it to the floor. The noise would wake you up. He might even break the thing!

After some internal deliberation, he decided on dragging a few of his clothes and small bath towel to pile on the floor to help cushion the fall. And he’d lower the thing by its charger cord as best he could.

The setup wasn’t pretty, but it worked and he soon found himself alternatively shoving and pulling your phone, dragging it into the other room. Argh, he didn’t remember the thing being so heavy!

He was practically out of breath by the time he could open up your contacts list. You didn’t have many contacts… but your manager Gary’s number was in there.

Hm… it was still really early… should he wait and call him later?

No. He needed to get this done… make sure you rested and got better.

“Good morning sweetie!” Gary practically sang into the receiver. Geez, did the guy ever even sleep? “To what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your lovely voice this early?”

“Hey, it’s Bob. I uh…”

“What’s happened?” Gary’s voice took on a more serious tone.

“No! No, Tiny’s fine! Everything’s fine! Uh… it’s just… Tiny can’t come ta work today because of a… stomach bug.”

“Stomach bug? Give me about an hour and I’ll bring some stuff over. Miguel’s still sleeping but I’ll let him know once…”

“I’ve got this! I don’t want ya waking ‘em up! Ya don’t need to come over.” Friend or not, Bob didn’t want anyone around you when you were this weak. He could take care of you himself!

There was a pause on the other end. “Bob, I am coming over. For a bit. End of discussion.” And with that, he ended the call.

Bob stared at the phone for a bit, feeling a mixture of annoyance and something else… relief? Psh, no. Hell no, he had this! He didn’t need anyone else to help. He would take care of you.

Shit, how long had he been away from you?

He dashed over to you. Ok, you were still sleeping. Breathing. Sweating. Were you too warm? Your face was really warm… but you had the blankets pulled up to your chin and you were shivering now and again. God, you looked so uncomfortable.

He used his sleeve to wipe away what sweat he could from your forehead. He couldn’t get a lot of it before his sleeve was soaked. Dammit! He dashed over to his clothes pile in front of the nightstand, grabbed his towel, and dashed back to you so he could use that to wipe at your face. There… that was at least a little better. Huh, you were sleeping pretty heavily. But you needed to sleep. But you also needed fluids. Should he wake you up and make you drink something? How was he going to get you some water?

He dashed over to the lower cabinet in the kitchen where his small plates and bowls were stored. He could fill one of his bowls with water… but that wouldn’t be much water for you at all. There was no way he could move one of your cups from the cabinet to the nightstand if it was full of water. It would be way too heavy.

He stared up at the cabinet, tapping a finger against his teeth as he thought. He could maybe do something similar to what he had done before with the wet toilet paper projectiles… roll the cup to your room and dash back and forth with small amounts of water, eventually filling up the cup. Argh, that had taken almost all day when he had done that before though!

But Gary said he was coming over. He could ask Gary to do it…

No. No, he didn’t need to rely on others. Bob could take care of you himself! Just like you took care of him. He would prove it! He could do this!

He yanked on the cord to open the upper cabinet and dashed up behind the cups. All plastic cups now… because he had broken the others…

He shook the thought off, kicking the closest cup to him and sending it clattering to the kitchen floor. Shit! That was kinda loud. He paused, listening… nope. Didn’t sound like you were getting up.

He dashed back the the floor, pushing and rolling the cup across the house until it was in your room. Geez, he was about out of breath again. Gritting his teeth, he lifted and shoved until he got the cup sitting upright in front of the nightstand.

Then, just to make sure, he jumped up to check on you again. Yeah, you were about the same as when he left you before. Ok. Time for phase two of getting you some water…

The fridge and freezer were still a no-go as far as getting ice or cold water was concerned. Sink water would have to do. He spent the next hour dashing between the kitchen sink and standing on the nightstand, pouring small amounts of water into the cup. He was tiring out quickly, his movements getting slower. And the cup was only about 1/4 of the way full! But Bob was getting exhausted. He hadn’t eaten anything since the previous night. Maybe he should stop and take a small break…

No. No, shit, what if you woke up soon? And there was only that little bit of water to drink and you were too sick to walk and get more and then you passed out again and became more and more dehydrated? Tiny wouldn’t let him get dehydrated if he were sick!

Even though Bitties didn’t get sick or dehydrated.

Argh, he just had to keep moving! For you! For…

A light knock interrupted his internal monologue/pep-talk. Who… right. Gary. That was probably Gary. Bob cut off the sink and hopped down, grabbing your keys off the counter and dragging them with him. He slung your keyring over his shoulder and pushed through his little door, coming face to… er, feet, with Gary.

Gary grinned down at Bob while holding up a plastic bag. “Morning sunshine! I brought over some ‘feel better quickly’ essentials! May I come in?”

Bob grunted as he dropped the keys at Gary’s feet. “Only if ya don’t make a buncha noise. Tiny’s sleepin.’”

Gary nodded, picking up the keys with his free hand to quietly open the door. Bob followed behind him, arms folded. “Ya know ya didn’t need ta come over. I told ya I got this.”

Gary sighed, setting the bag down on the counter to unload its contents: Gatorade, a tupperware of rice, some bananas, and little applesauce packs. Gary grabbed the Gatorade and started heading to your room… wait, no!

“Hey, wait!” Bob said, chasing after Gary. Curse Gary’s long strides! “Stop! Don’t go in there!”

Gary ignored him, silently entering your room. He frowned at the plastic cup on the floor. There was about as much water inside of it as there was around it in puddles. After sitting the Gatorade on your nightstand, Gary carefully put the back of his hand against your forehead.

Bob watched, clenching his fists as a small growl escaped him.

Gary didn’t seem to hear him as he picked the cup off the floor and smiled down at Bob before stepping over him, returning to the kitchen.

Bob was livid… but he had to keep his temper. He couldn’t yell while you were asleep and not feeling well.

“I told you not to go in there,” Bob growled up at Gary through gritted teeth while Gary seemed to be ignoring him, washing the cup in the sink. “What if Tiny woke up, huh? Think they woulda been happy havin’ ya all hovering over ‘em?”

Gary closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly before answering. “Bob, sweetie, I know you mean well. But there comes a time when we all must face reality.”

“Reality?” Bob barked. Crap, he was being too loud. “Reality?” He said a bit quieter. “The hell’s that suppose ta mean?”

“The reality is, you can’t take proper care of a sick person by yourself. Even someone with a minor illness like this. You just aren’t physically capable. I’m sorry. There is no shame in asking for help. Especially when it involves the welfare of someone else. I would hope if something like this happened on a non-working day, you would still call me, hmm?”

Bob opened and closed his mouth, angry but unable to say anything. Gary was right. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was right.   
  
“I hope you would. I know you would. Because you do want what’s best for your… friend? Hmm?” Gary leveled a serious gaze down at Bob, who averted his eyes and fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

Gary smiled brightly again, giving Bob a gentle boop on the top his skull. “You always were a smart soul! You’re a good friend. You two are lucky to have each other! Indeed, indeed!” He finished drying the cup, setting it back in the cabinet. “Oh goodness me, would you look at the time? Appointments will be starting soon and Miguel will need me there helping with rooms! Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything else! I’ll be stopping by later this evening to check on things. Toodles!”

And with that, Gary left.

Gary was right. What the hell had Bob been thinking? This wasn’t about him at all. It was about you and your wellbeing. What the hell had he even been trying to prove?

Maybe he felt like if he were truly able to care for you the way you cared for him, he would be worthy of you?

No. He knew better. No matter what you said, Bob could never be equal to you.

How could he ever be equal to you? You were beautiful. And not just looks. You were beautiful in the way you’d find the best in seemingly any situation, even getting excited about doing court appointed community service because you’d get to see how the shelter was run. You were beautiful when Bob messed up and you’d roll your eyes and gently forgive him. Even back when you just nonchalantly took Bob in knowing next to nothing about him, just because you knew he needed you. Even now, even when you were sick and sweaty and gross, you were still beautiful.

No, Bob could never be equal to you.

He had to stop being selfish, wanting selfish things.

He heard you move in the other room and dashed over, just to find you had turned a little in your sleep. He picked up his towel that had fallen to the side of you, gently wiping the sweat off your face again. Bob wasn’t able to take care of you by himself. Couldn’t really do anything but try to make you a little more comfortable as you slept. So that’s what he did.


	38. Chapter 31: Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Whispers* I'm baaaack.
> 
> Hah, sorry about the hiatus. Been... um... nauseous? Apparently growing humans makes one nauseous. Haha, who knew? ^^;;
> 
> Anyway, will try to get back to a semi-regular posting schedule. Hope you all are having a happy Spring thus far! ^-^  
> ********************************************

Luckily, whatever sickness you had earlier in the week was only one of those 24 hour sicknesses. Poor Gary had come up in the wee hours of the morning and dropped off a bunch of stuff to help you feel better. Then visited again later in the evening after covering both your and his share of the work at the hospital. Geez, you had caused him too much trouble. And this was the third time in under a year you’d had to miss work! Ugh, at this rate, you were sure Dr. Rivera and Gary would become tired of your poor work ethic. You were sort of irritated Bob had unnecessarily called him. After all, you could take care of yourself. And you could have worked… probably. Anyway, when you felt better, you were gearing up to have a little discussion with Bob about making decisions for you until you noticed how… down he was.

And his mood didn’t improve as the week went on. He tried to hide it. But it was noticeable. Very noticeable. Even though he was being pleasant, it was like he was being too pleasant? Smiling a little too forcefully. You’d tried to get him to talk to you, but he refused to even acknowledge anything was wrong. Even though things were clearly wrong. Hell, he even started sleeping on the couch again most nights… when he did sleep. He mostly stayed up, writing in his blog. All night. The glow of the monitor and tiny taps of the keyboard went on until the wee hours of the morning. He never let you read what he was writing (and asked you not to look it up on your own). You could relate to not wanting those close to you to read your writings…

Anyway, the whole situation was frustrating. What had you done to upset him so much this time? For the life of you, you couldn’t think of anything! It sucked. The whole thing sucked. You kept hoping that whatever had put him in this kind of funk, it would blow over. Because right now, even though he was always with you, it seemed like he wasn’t. Not really. You missed him. Sigh. It would blow over, like it always did. Right?

Well, at least the week was over and it was time for another volunteer Saturday at the animal shelter.   
  
Bob, Indy, and Canary seemed to be getting along amicably enough… though they seemed rather tense… well, at least you didn’t see them outright fighting. Or setting anything on fire. So far, so good…

Ace was in a good mood, which was cheering you up a bit.

“Oh dude! So you’re seriously interested in the farmer’s market? We should totally go!” He was grinning and scrubbing the kennel excitedly as he spoke. “Maybe tomorrow… oh wait, no, crap. I’ve got that family Thanksgiving thing I’ve gotta make a bunch of food for and then I promised my bro I’d go to his concert. Ah man, maybe next Sunday if you’re not busy? My family’s pretty extensive and they always throw these big potlucks during every holiday. Cousins, aunts, uncles… everyone shows up! I can’t wait! I’ll bet you’ve got some fun Thanksgiving stuff you’re doing too. I’m sure your vet hospital’s closed too, yeah?”

You struggled not to laugh at the many facial expressions Ace made throughout that monologue. “Yup, closed on Thanksgiving. But we’re open Friday. No major plans. Just Bob and I.”

“You aren’t hanging with your fam?” His face wrinkled with concern. “Wait… oh man, did I hit a sore spot? I’m sorry if I was insensitive.”

“No! No, nothing like that. My dad… we don’t really get along. Mom died when I was little. And that’s the extent of my family… Ah! No, don’t worry about it! Haha, seriously, it’s fine.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Shit, and here I was going on and on about my family… wait! I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t you come with me to my family shindig?”

“What… that’s nice of you but, I don’t want to intrude…” Shit. Shit, that invite came out of nowhere. You hardly knew this guy! Time to find a way out of it…

“No way, dude! You wouldn’t be intruding! My cousins are always bringing friends with them! Come on, it’ll be fun! I’m sure Indy and Canary would like to have another Bitty around too!”

Ah crap, you couldn’t think of a good excuse and he was looking at you so hopefully. Dammit. “Ok,” you said and Ace actually cheered.

“Awesome! Here, let’s exchange phone numbers and I can text you the directions and stuff!”

And then you all were exchanging numbers. Geez. You didn’t really know this guy. And here you’d just accepted a pity invite to his family’s Thanksgiving. God, what would his family think? This was a bad idea, but it was too late now. Ugh, you should have just told him you had plans. But he genuinely seemed really happy…

He handed your phone back and looked over at Bob, who was cutting him death glares. Bob saw you looking and quickly looked away.

“Hah, so Bob. Can’t help but notice he doesn’t seem to like me. That’s cool though. I seem to have that effect on Bitties. Seriously doubt Canary and Indy much care for me either.” He shrugged, forcing a crooked smile.

“What? No, I’m sure that’s not true… Bob… He can be weird sometimes. And I’m sure Canary and Indy like you… Bitties can be weird. Bob seemed to hate me at first.”

“For serious? I can’t even imagine Bob hating you. You guys seem so tight! What changed? Got any, like, pointers for me?”

“I dunno… things just kind of changed over time. I wasn’t exactly completely nice to him when we first met… it took us a while I guess to understand each other…” You looked over to where the Bitties’ conversation seemed to have taken some kind of turn for the worst. Bob’s fists were clenched at his side and he shook as he was whispering angrily about something while Canary laughed and Indy was signing something back. Great. Should you intercede? Just let them work it out on their own?

“Yeah, so I guess I just need to give Indy and Canary some time and space, huh?” Ace continued scrubbing the kennel, oblivious to the argument taking place behind him. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do. Well, as much as possible. Can’t exactly leave them alone, seeing as how they are always up to something. Hah, I guess we’re getting along better now than we were. When I first brought them home, they wouldn’t even talk to me. I think they were afraid of me or something. Definitely didn’t like the idea of riding around in a backpack while we biked around. Though that couldn’t really be helped, considering I had to sell the car. I kind of miss my car.”

Deciding to let the Bitties work out their own issues, you turned your attention back to Ace. “I thought you said cars were bad for the environment? That being car-free helped you stay off the grid or something. Gotta say, I’m kinda surprised to hear you miss it.” You turned on the hose to rinse this kennel and move on to the next.

“Yeah, well, I guess cars have their perks. Especially when the weather’s all crappy.” He lowered his voice. “Anyway, I didn’t have the money to buy Indy and Canary. Had to sell some stuff, including my car, to have enough for them. Luckily I got a discount, but still.”

Oh wow. He really did all that to save two Bitties he barely knew? Would you have even done that for Bob when you had first met him?

Ace blushed and scratched at his beard. “Hah, it wasn’t that big a deal. No need to look at me like I’m the Pope or something. Seriously. Do me a favor though? Don’t tell the guys. I’m pretty sure they think I stole them or something and then got fired. Wouldn’t want to ruin that reputation, you know?”

A sudden commotion brought both of your attentions back to the Bitties. Bob was snarling as Indy launched himself at him and they were grappling and trading blows. Canary tried to leap into the fray but was knocked to the side. Oh god dammit! As you went to rush over, Indy had knocked Bob to the edge of the shelf where Ace managed to reach and catch him before he could slide off.

“Let go!! Don’t ya fucking touch me!” Bob growled and smacked and kicked his way out of Ace’s hand.

“Bob! What the hell? What’s gotten into you?!” You shouted and Bob flinched.

Canary was laughing nervously and Indy was signing furiously in Ace’s direction as he frowned at the two of them.

“Seriously guys, what’s with this?” Ace said as he rubbed at his hand.

“Uh, wrestling match?” Canary offered and shrugged.

Ace wasn’t buying it. Neither were you.

***  
Well the drive back home was… fun. Bob refused to tell you why the hell he was fighting with Indy and was just generally being a little shit. Seriously, he was kind of pissing you off.

“I said drop it,” he said as you both entered the apartment.

“No, we’re having this conversation.” You scooped him up and set him at the table as you pulled up a chair. He grumbled and folded his arms. “You’ve been acting really… like moody lately and I want to know why.”

“I said I’m fine! Never better,” he barked. “Sorry my mood ruined your fun with your… friend.” He practically spat that last word.

“Woah, ok. Time out. What’s all this? What… Where’s this all coming from?”

“Forget it.” He went to walk away but you stopped him by making a wall in front of him with your hands.

“Nope, conversation time isn’t over yet. Something’s wrong and I want to know what.”

“It’s nothing. Move.”

“It’s not nothing! See, this is what I’m talking about! Why won’t you talk to me like you always do?”

“Cause I don’t feel like talkin’! Argh, why don’tcha just go and.. and talk with Ace if ya wanna talk to someone so badly!”

“Really? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous or something.”

Silence. Bob tensed but didn’t face you.

“No. Seriously? Seriously?! That’s what this… There’s… I don’t… Why is this even an issue with you?!”

“Please move.”

“No! Is this why you’ve been acting so weird? Oh my god, I don’t even really know him! We’ve both met him like 2 times… This is completely ridiculous!”

“Is it?!” He whipped around to face you. “You’ve been awful friendly with a guy ya barely know! Givin’ him your number, agreeing ta hang out with his family. And here I was under the impression ya didn’t warm up to others so easily! Argh, I just don’t know why ya seem to trust him so quickly… It took ya forever to even really open up ta me!”

“Oh, so I’m only allowed to be friends with you, is that it? He’s been nothing but nice to the both of us! Plus, whether you realize it or not, I think you and the Bitties with him have a lot in common. I really don’t get why you’ve gotta be like this!”

“Heh heh. Ya know what? I don’t care! I don’t even care! See if I care if ya just go couple up with him! I hope ya both are very happy!” He whirled away from you, shaking and clenching his fists. “Move!”

“Oh my god! You just assume that?! Can’t two people just be friends?! Heaven forbid I get to make more friends! Nope, one jealous, possessive little shit is all I need in my life! Ugh, I don’t want to be with anyone!”

Seriously? Oh, now you were angry. You sat there waiting, just waiting for his comeback. How dare he? This had gone on long enough. Starting with his attitude toward Dr. Rivera and now Ace. Where did he get off acting like this? It was completely unacceptable!

You sat there, trembling in your anger, starting to take deep breaths to hold back your anger. God, you really didn’t want to say anything you’d regret. But seriously!

“I’m sorry,” he said, almost a whisper. “You’re right…about me. I really am that… I’m… I’m sorry.”

Ok. This, you weren’t expecting.

He gently pushed past your hands, pulling his hoodie up over his head and hopping down from the table to go shuffle to the other room. You watched him leave in stunned silence.

Great, now you felt kind of bad. But really, you didn’t understand why he was being like this. You didn’t do wrong by pointing out that he was being a jerk. Right?

Ugh, but you still felt bad. You groaned and rubbed your hands over your face.

You decided to give Bob some space.

You could use some space to calm down right now too.


	39. Chapter 32: Dog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah, the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. ;P
> 
> Have a new chapter! Hope things are going well for you all!

Also, check out this awesome fanart by undertalepudding [here](https://undertalepudding.tumblr.com/post/159760360291/fan-art-about-a-tiny-skeleton-named-bob-drawn-in) and by irelandschildoflight [here](https://irelandschildoflight.tumblr.com/post/160171764308/tfw-someone-tries-to-grab-ur-human-yet-another).

_*****************************************************************************_

_Products aimed at Bitties can be hard to come by. I was lucky enough to get to review the BitBoard (get it? heh. heh.), a keyboard specifically made for Bitties. I gotta admit, it’s pretty impressive. The keys have this rubber coating that keeps my fingers from sliding off the keys as I type and the keyboard itself is very responsive. It’s easy to set up too, just plugs into a standard USB port and it’s ready to go._

_For a more in-depth review, click here._

_Ta get yer bony little hands on one, click here._

_-Bitemybittysacrum, 11/xx/20xx_

_***_

Thursday morning came on too quickly.

Not that you were nervous about going to a new friend’s house and meeting his extensive family. Nope, not at all.

You clutched at the tray of pumpkin cookies you had made the night before as you approached Ace’s parent’s home.

The house was not what you expected at all. Definitely bigger than you thought it would be. By about 2 stories! Geez, Ace didn’t warn you his parents practically lived in a mansion. Maybe you weren’t so far off from your first thoughts of him about being rich? Ha. Ha. Well, his parents seemed to be anyway.

Bob squeezed your shoulder and offered you a small smile.

Thankfully earlier that week you all had, for the most part, made up. Sort of. He was still keeping his distance and you had stopped questioning him about it.

Truthfully, it was kind of easier this way. Safer. Less confusing.

Even if it did leave a sort of ache in your chest…

Anyway, you couldn’t stand gawking at the house forever. Mustering up some courage, you balanced the cookie tray in one hand and rang the doorbell.

You half expected a butler to answer the door, all dressed in a tux, eyebrow quirked and frowning down at you like you were some peasant.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Instead, you were greeted by an overly enthusiastic Ace.

“Awesome! You all made it! Ooh, cookies!” He grabbed the tray from you and held the door open with one leg. “Come on back, I’ll introduce you to everyone! Well, everyone who’s here anyway.” He was all grins as he led you out to their equally massive backyard.

Ace wasn’t kidding when he said he had a big family.

Everyone was milling about either sitting in the shade sipping drinks or participating in one of the many various yard games taking place. A younger couple was playing fetch with what looked like a lab-mix puppy. There was no way you were going to remember the names of the twenty or so aunts, uncles, cousins and friends he introduced you to…

And more family kept showing up!

Bob really was doing his best to be pleasant to Ace (if the plastered, forced grin was any indication).

Ace’s family, for the most part, ignored Bob as if he were an accessory or something. It kind of bothered you but Bob didn’t seem to mind the lack of attention.

One of Ace’s cousins(?) nudged him and nodded toward a cooler where Canary was standing on a rock and boosting Indy up to open the lid and deposit whatever package he was holding in his arm.

“Hey! Guys, no!” Ace called as he ran over to stop whatever it was they were trying to do.

The guy chuckled as he watched Ace. “Those new little pets of his have been nothing but trouble since he got them. Was thinking about getting a Bitty once, but not after seeing his.” He took a sip of his beer and looked over at you, seemingly noticing Bob for the first time. “Oops, no offense. Yours seems well behaved enough.”

Bob’s eye twitched but he said nothing, keeping his tight grin in place.

“They’re not pets,” you corrected, annoyed that you had to keep correcting people on this.

He laughed, taking another sip of his beer. “I see why you and Ace get along. He’s always saying the same kinds of stuff too. ’No Don, they’re intelligent tiny persons. Don’t call them pets, dude.’”

“They’re not pets,” Ace said as he approached you all with Canary and Indy on his shoulder.

Ah geez, all 3 Bitties visibly tensed as they spotted each other.

Ace noticed too. “Aw, come on guys. Can’t you all just be nice to each other? Indy, why don’t you apologize to Bob for whatever happened between the two of you last weekend?”

“He doesn’t have anything to apologize for,” Canary said. “Those boneheads were just play-fighting. Right, Bob?” Canary cut his eyes at Bob.

“Yeah. Play-fighting,” Bob said, cutting his eyes back and grinning maliciously at Canary.

Don started cracking up laughing, almost spilling his beer. “They’re funny little things! I’ll give ya that. Creepy, but funny! I kind of like your friend’s with the red eyes. Maybe I’ll get one of them someday. That is, if they weren’t the ones that were discontinued…. what? What’d I say?!”

“Excuse us,” Ace said as he dragged his cousin away by the elbow.

Geez. You cringed, worriedly looking at Bob who was no longer keeping his fake grin in place but otherwise, seemed distracted watching Indy and Canary.

They had moved from Ace’s shoulder and appeared on the side garden table a few feet away.

Bob shifted, like he was getting ready to join them and reached to his side, seemingly checking… wait, what was he carrying under his shirt?

“Please don’t start fighting again,” you said.

“Worried I’ll embarrass ya even more?” Bob said, eyes still on Canary and Indy.

You sighed. “You know it’s not like that. I just don’t think…”

Too late. Bob had appeared on the table with the other Bitties and all 3 immediately started arguing in hushed tones. Then all 3 disappeared…

Crap, where’d they go? You started scanning the yard looking for them, unsuccessfully. What were they up to? You seriously doubted they were getting along.

Maybe they were hiding under one of the food tables?

“Lose something… or someone?” Ace said from above, where you were awkwardly crouched down, lifting and looking under a tablecloth.

“Yeah, I’ll give you one guess as to which,” you said, standing up an brushing off your knees.

Ace sighed. “We’ll find them. Hopefully before shenanigans ensue.” He grabbed one of the cookies you made from the dessert table, taking a bite and then pausing with a weird look mid-chew. He quickly swallowed it, forcing a smile. “These are… good.”

“Um… thanks…” Ugh, were they really that bad? Whatever.

You got back to looking for the Bitties. Where could they have run off to? You didn’t like the fact that they didn’t get along… or the fact that it was two Bitties vs one against Bob. Though even with all their fighting, they hadn’t outright hurt each other… yet. Well, besides the “play fighting” the past weekend. Though none of them were injured. Maybe this was just the way Bitties made friends or something? Hostility before trust? Maybe they all had trust issues? Actually, you wouldn’t be surprised by that, considering.

A small commotion brought your attention to the corner of the yard. Some people were gathered laughing at something on the ground. Someone stepped to the side and you saw it: Canary, Indy, and Bob covered in paint and… were they throwing paintballs? And somehow Bob had what looked like angry eyebrows drawn in sharpie. Ah, geez.

As you slowly made your way over, Ace suddenly yelled, “Someone grab the dog!”

You turned, and it was like time slowed down.

That lab-mix puppy was making a beeline for the Bitties.

You started running too.

Ace was too far away, he wouldn’t make it in time.

You weren’t going to make it either.

The people standing around were too distracted by the Bitties to pay attention to Ace.

Indy and Canary’s backs were turned and were too focused on the paintballs to notice the dog.

Bob noticed first. By then, the animal’s muzzle was mere inches away from Indy’s back.

One of the bystanders noticed and reached for the dog’s collar, too late.

Bob suddenly appeared beside Indy and shoved him out of the way, just as the puppy made a bite for him and missed. But she whipped her head sideways, sending Bob flying into the side of a planter.

He bounced off of the rim hard, ricocheting off and hitting the fence before landing on the ground.

Someone grabbed the dog’s collar.

Bob was laying there motionless, before the crowd closed in around him and you couldn’t see him anymore.

You frantically squeezed past them, kneeling down over Bob. Shit! Was he ok? He was breathing. You went to reach for him but jerked your hand back as he hissed in pain.

Bob was gritting his teeth, holding the side of his ribs with one hand while he was pushing himself up to a sitting position with the other.

“You ok?” You asked.

He nodded, seemingly trying to catch his breath.

“Anything I can do?” 

“I’m fine… just… just gimme a minute…” He gasped, grimacing.

People were murmuring.

You ignored them.

“I’m sorry!” A young woman called, as she went to collect her dog. “I didn’t know those little things were loose over there! Are they ok?”

You sat with Bob while Ace was quietly talking with Indy and Canary. They seemed shaken, but ok.

After a little bit Bob nodded up at you and you gently helped him up to your shoulder.

Canary and Indy just watched Bob curiously, saying nothing.

The couple with the dog were apologizing again, but it wasn’t really their fault.

Some of the family seemed amused by the whole thing until Ace’s glare silenced them.

You decided to call it a day, and quietly left the party.

Bob was wincing as you helped him onto the dashboard. He caught his reflection in the windshield, and grumbled a, “Son of a…” Before scrubbing at his forehead. The eyebrows weren’t coming off. How’d that even happen in the first place? He went to lean over to grab a napkin out of the glovebox and hissed, grabbing his side again.

“I think you need to let me take a look at that,” you said. Didn’t look like there was any glowy dust leaking around his shirt, so hopefully he wasn’t too bad off.

“I told ya, ‘m fine,” he grunted.

“I can tell.”

“Fuck off.”

You sighed. “You know, you have quite the talent for getting yourself in unfortunate situations.”

Bob just grunted.

Ok. You could give him some space for the ride home.

***

“Bob, come on. Let me see.”

“Ya don’t need to see! I can take care of myself!”  He batted your hands away again, grimacing as he backed away from you on the kitchen table.

“Why are you being so difficult?”

“Why do ya wanna see under my shirt so badly? Heh, trying ta catch an eyeful of tiny naked skeleton or somethin’?” He smirked.

You looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “And what if I am?”

He blinked up at you, a blush forming, clearly not expecting that response. “Uh… Psh. Yeah… Yeah right, like you’d ever wanna see or anything anyway. Argh, you’re always just treatin’ me like a child!”

“Oh really? Like a child, huh? Unlike a certain skeleton who took care of me all day when I was sick? And even called into work for me?”

“That was… that’s different!”

“How so? You took care of me while I was sick. Now, you’re hurt, and I wanna help take care of you! That’s how this works. Now quit being difficult and let me catch an eyeful of those tiny naked skeleton ribs!”

“Pfft, no! OW, dammit! Careful!” He winced and pushed your hands away where apparently you had accidentally poked him in your attempt to reach for him. “Geez. Come on Tiny… Just… I can take care of myself.”

“Why’re you so reluctant to let me help you? You let me change the bandage on your leg just a few months ago. Why is this any different? ...What’s changed?” Hm, you may or may not have had an edge of hurt to your tone.

“Nothing! Nothing’s changed! It’s just… I just…” He was rubbing the back of his skull. He took a breath and let it out. “I uh… I know ya humans… skeletons are kinda… gross? The stuff of horror films. I guess I just… I would rather not… ya know.”

“You think I’d be like… repulsed by you or something?”

No answer. Just more grimacing and looking away from you.

“Really? I’ve seen you before! The first day I met you, in fact! I wasn’t repulsed then. Why would you even think that?”

“Alright, let’s just drop this. I’m gonna go tape up my ribs, and then we can watch TV or somethin’.”

No. Unacceptable.

You put your face down to his level, putting a finger under his chin to tilt his head so he’d look at you.

“Bob. I could never feel repulsed by you. You’re beautiful.”

There was that blush again.

“And you’re a good guy. What you did earlier, with saving Indy… though stupid and I hope you wouldn’t ever do something like that again… it was pretty badass.”

Aand darker blushing. “Ok, stop. Geez.”

You grinned. “And I didn’t even mention your fine eyebrows.”

At that, he looked confused until realization dawned on his reddened face. He reached up with a balled fist scrubbing at his forehead with a grumbled, “Goddammit…”

You couldn’t help it, you started laughing.

He sighed, chuckling and giving you that unreadable look of his.

“At least let me help you with your eyebrow problem. I’ve got some tricks for removing ink.  And paint.”

He relented, nodding and letting you carefully pick him up.

No, you definitely weren’t disgusted by him. By this brave and beautiful Bitty. What you felt… disgusted wasn’t it. Not at all.  Not even close.

A knock on the door surprised you both.

Was Ace coming to check on Bob?

You carefully set Bob down on the couch, going to look through the peephole.

Someone was standing out there with a clipboard, wearing some kind of work uniform. A solicitor? You squinted, making out the letters and logo…

And your blood ran cold.


	40. Chapter 33: Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild update appears! 
> 
> So how have you all been this past... er, 7 months? Good? 
> 
> Things are good here! Me and the daughter are doing well! She's super cute and fuzzy and squishy and amazing and I never knew I could love anyone so much, you know? ^^ 
> 
> Heh, anyway, I read all of you all's comments (even if I didn't respond) and treasure them all! Seriously, they make my day every time. Thank you! 
> 
> So, fair warning, updates may be sporadic from now on. I'm determined to finish this though!  
> ***************************

_So, I guess I should finish telling the story about the Edgy Bitty who saved my life last Thanksgiving._

_It’s been months since I updated this thing… But you decided to stick around anyway, huh? Curious how this all ends? You may not like what you see…_

_…_

_Still reading, huh?_

_Heh, you were warned. Guess the best place to start is where we last left off…_  
  
_-IndigoMontoya, BittyBlog2, 07/xx/20xx_

  
*****11/xx/20xx, Bob’s POV*****

Another Saturday and another day volunteering at the animal shelter.

Another day being stared down by two annoying Bitties. But this time, instead of malice, the two looked confused and kind of sheepish. They also seemed to be trying to find a way to talk to him. Probably had to do with the whole “he saved Indigo’s life” thing. Argh, how annoying. That was days ago… well, 2 days ago. But who cares? He’d hoped they’d forget about the whole thing. Apparently not. Bob preferred the glares and plotting.

He had other things on his mind.

Ever since the whole Thanksgiving incident and whoever had been at the door, Tiny had been acting… troubled. Pretending to be cheerful but refusing to talk about anything, much less what was bothering ‘em. They’d spent all Thursday marathoning some anime. Then Tiny’d gone to work on Friday, coming home and going straight to bed after a dinner spent again in front of the TV with barely any communication whatsoever.

And here Bob thought that they’d been getting better with communication…

He still wasn’t sure who’d been at the door. He thought at first it was Tiny’s dad. Woulda made sense, considering the whole refusal to even really acknowledge that anyone had even been there. “A solicitor.” Yeah right. Every time Bob tried to ask about who it really was, Tiny changed the subject!

There had been a note left on the door too, which Tiny had crumbled and pocketed before Bob could even look at it.

And then the calls had started.  
  
The first time it happened Thursday night, Tiny had answered and then hung up abruptly.

Then one Friday morning and at least two or three Friday evening. Tiny refused to answer, looking worried as the calls came, and then pretended it wasn’t happening.

Bob was pretty sure Tiny woulda told him if it was their dad calling and harassing ‘em. But it was definitely someone else.

But who? Possibly bill collectors or somethin’?

If that was the case, Bob could help a little. That company he did the keyboard review for, they’d actually payed him since he’d generated a fair amount of traffic to their website. And now, other companies with Bitty-related products also wanted to advertise on his page.

He may or may not have opened up an account in Tiny’s name (considering he couldn’t open an account as a Bitty, being a non-human thing and all). He was planning on surprising Tiny for Christmas. But if things were really bad with bills, he would give it to ‘em earlier.

Anyway. He’d have to worry about that later.

Tiny was over cleaning kennels with Ace, not talking much. Well, Ace was doing a fair amount of talking. Tiny barely seemed to be listening, concentrating and frowning at whatever grossness was being scrubbed from a kennel wall.

Bob should be happy about the whole lack of communication between his human and Ace, right?

He wasn’t.

Canary cleared his non-existent throat. “So… uh, buddy… Are you uh, ok?”

“Never better,” Bob grumbled as he absently rubbed his side. The crack in his rib really wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was healing rather quickly. Seemed he was healing more quickly in general these days.

“That’s good…” Canary glanced over at his brother who was signing something, but Bob didn’t care what.

This was too awkward and annoying. He didn’t want to talk to them. He didn’t want to make friends with them. Argh! He jumped over to the top of a kennel to get away so he could keep an eye on Tiny.

Aaand, the other Bitties followed him. Great.

Bob growled in frustration. “Listen, what happened was an accident, alright? I accidentally pushed ya away from that damn dog! By mistake! So don’t ya go all gettin’ nice with me just because of an accident! It’s weird and annoying!”

Canary raised an eyebrow and seemed to cough to stifle a laugh. “Sure, buddy. Whatever you say, pal. And yeah, we did want to thank you… But also, you seem more vexed than usual…”

“None’a your business!” Bob snapped and tried to hop away, just to come face-to-face with the two of them again. Dammit.

**‘i don’t buy it. you saved my life. i owe ya. tell us what’s wrong,’** Indy signed.

“Ya really wanna pay me back? Then leave me alone.”

Bob jumped over and landed on Tiny’s shoulder, earning him a brief startle before his human went back to what they were doing.

Geez. It looked like Tiny hadn’t been sleeping at all the past two nights.

He wished his human would talk to him… tell him what was going on with ‘em…

*****Your POV*****

You went through the motions of cleaning kennels, though you felt like a zombie. Your lack of sleep the last few nights wasn’t helping your cause. Mentally, you weren’t there at all. At least being numb beat the feeling of helplessness and fear that had been your norm as of late…

You tried to nod and “uh huh” at appropriate intervals as Ace talked to you. But you weren’t really listening. You vaguely felt bad… but you had more pressing things on your mind.

A few nights ago, an unexpected visitor had showed up at your apartment. And in a panic, you had grabbed Bob and hid from them. Like a scared kid. In your own apartment. You’d be angry at yourself if you didn’t feel so sick over the whole thing.

Bob had assumed the person at the door was your dad.

It definitely wasn’t your dad.

Your dad you could deal with.

The person with the logo on their uniform on the other side of your door, not so much.

Utaugen.

At first, you had been able to calm yourself down, thinking maybe they were just there by coincidence. Soliciting or something. Maybe conducting some kind of survey? Maybe they wouldn’t come back?

But things are never that easy. They had left a note on the door.

The note was amicable enough, even if its contents filled you with dread.

It requested the immediate return of “stolen property.”

That property being the “Edgy Bitty in your possession.”

Bob.

Of course, you didn’t tell Bob any of this. Of course you threw away the note somewhere he couldn’t find it. How could you tell him any of this? Your brain could barely process this as it was. You couldn’t accept this. No way would you give him to them. No way. But what were you supposed to do? How could you make them go away? How could you fix this problem? How did they even own him anyway? Hadn’t Bob mentioned he was in a store at one point?

…

What exactly had happened to him after he left the store?

You and Bob spent that whole night marathoning some anime you don’t even remember the name of. He seemed to enjoy it, even if he didn’t seem to completely buy that you weren’t worried about who had been at the door earlier. That it was some solicitor. You spent the night trying to sort out what you were going to do.

Foolishly, you thought maybe if you just didn’t reply, Utaugen would forget about you. What was one Bitty to them anyway?

But then the phone calls started.

You tried to ignore those too.

They left messages. The messages were becoming less amicable.

They wanted “their property” returned to them immediately, at their local headquarters.

How had they even found you?

Yesterday, you’d decided to be an adult about this. They were just some corporation that viewed Bob like property. You could just pay for him, right? That should fix things.

On your lunch break, you dialed the number they had left you.

You offered to pay for Bob in installments.

They wouldn’t even consider it. They wanted him back. Period. End of discussion. They wouldn’t give you a reason why.

“So what do you think?” Ace was looking at you expectantly.

Crap, you hadn’t been listening at all. “Um… I agree?”

Ace stared at you blankly. “Yo, you haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?” He started laughing. “I asked if you still wanted to go to the farmers market tomorrow?”

Ah man, you really didn’t. You needed time to think. Figure out what you were going to do about Utaugen. Of course you wouldn’t give Bob back! But they could make you, couldn’t they? After all, by law he was their “property.” What if they brought you to court? They could take him by force.

Bob kicked your shoulder a little, startling you. Wow, you had forgotten he was even there! And Ace was staring at you… right. He’d asked you a question. What was it again? ….farmers market. Right.

“You ok?” Ace asked, now looking a little concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… sleepy. Maybe I’m coming down with something… again. I’d better take a rain check on that farmers market trip. Maybe next time?”

Ace looked disappointed, but nodded.

You both finished cleaning the kennels in silence. He didn’t press you to talk about what was bothering you. You were thankful for that. He really was a good guy.

***

The rest of the day was spent marathoning the current anime you all were watching. Again, you weren’t really watching it.

Utaugen had tried to call while you were getting lunch ready.

You didn’t answer.

Bob didn’t ask about it.

You deleted the message they had left without listening to it.

Again, Bob watched you but didn’t ask about it.

Bob had been quiet since Thursday. He was always quiet when something was upsetting him. You knew that something was you. But you could’t tell him. How could you? What would you say?

Why did Utaugen want him back so badly?

It didn’t matter. They weren’t going to have him. No way.

But what could you do? They could force you to give him up…

…unless they couldn’t find you.

“I was thinking…” you said as you fiddled with the remote, “we ought to take a vacation. Maybe get out and see something besides this boring city?”

“Vacation?” Bob seemed genuinely interested. “Where to?”

“I was thinking somewhere out of state… somewhere warm. California maybe? I hear they are way more Bitty-friendly out there. Just the two of us. What do you think?” You forced a smile.

Bob looked a little skeptical. “Really? But what about work?”

“I have lots of vacation days saved up. They would be fine without me. In fact, we ought to do this sooner rather than later since… since we’re getting into the slow season! I’ll talk with Dr. Rivera and Gary tomorrow!”

He still looked unsure.

“Listen… I need this. I think it would be good for us to get away for a while. Just the two of us. What do you say?”

“Ok… if ya really want to. Ya know, I… Yeah. Let’s do this.” He offered his own forced smile in return.

Good. This could work. You and he could get out of town… maybe for forever.

Maybe not the most adult of decisions, running away like a kid. But what choice did you have?

This was for Bob. His life was at stake!

You and he would just disappear and start a new life…

Which meant no more Country Hills Vet Hospital.

No more Dr. Rivera and Gary… the only other family you’d ever had…

“Alright, I’m going to take a shower,” you said as your voice cracked. Shit. Hasty exit time. Showers were good for hiding tears…

  
*****Bob’s POV*****

Something wasn’t right.

But Bob would be damned if he questioned your plans if ya were so determined they go. If this is what you needed, he would go along with it. Without question.

As you showered, Bob searched for budget-friendly places to stay. Who knows? Maybe this was just what ya needed. Maybe you all would have fun! Maybe you’d talk to him once ya all were away somewhere nice? And just the two of you…

Your phone pinged with a text notification.

Odd. Maybe it was that Ace guy?

He briefly thought of messing with him but nah, he really wasn’t in the mood. Besides, he had already apologized ta ya once for being a dick to that guy. Didn’t wanna repeat that mistake.

Still, he was curious what the guy could be texting you about… No harm reading a text since the phone just happened to be on the table beside him, right?

He hopped over, checking to see that the bathroom door was still closed before clicking your text notification.

**Unknown Number:** Hey, it’s your father. You blocked texts from my previous phone and I know you said you didn’t wanna see me again and I understand and all but this is important! Please hear me out.

Another text.

**Unknown Number:** That company where I tried to return your pet… they found me. I don’t know how! They really seem to want that Bitty back… saying it’s stolen property or something.

And another.

**Unknown Number:** Now I didn’t tell them where you are! Promise! But they’ve been hounding me for weeks with threats. I dunno why they want it back so bad! But, it all stopped like a few days ago. They may have found you. And I know I screwed up and that Bitty is important to you and I guess I’m just trying to make some amends by letting you know. So now you know. Anyway, I’m sorry. I love you.

Bob stared at the screen.

They found him.

But why?

Why go through the trouble?

Why spend the money and resources to track down one Bitty that escaped?

Wait… that person at the door earlier.

That person that had ya completely freaked out.

Was that someone from the company?

Why didn’t you tell him?!

Was this why you were talking about going on vacation with him?

Dammit, he should have known.

You can barely afford food, much less a vacation! You were planning on running away. To protect him. You were gonna throw away the life you’d built for yourself just to protect him!

No.

No way was he gonna let that happen.

He’d turn himself in before he let that happen.

He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Maybe he could come up with some way… something.

But if he didn’t?

…

Gritting his teeth, he deleted the texts.


	41. Chapter 33.5: Extra Story, 'Cause Villain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah man.... you still reading this thing? Even with such slooow updates? Well, I hope you're still getting some enjoyment out of this story. If I didn't answer your comment, please know I read it and it likely made me smile! I'm determined to finish this thing, but I'm not sure about a timetable... ^^; Thanks again for reading! Hope you all are having a good summer! Stay hydrated.
> 
> *********************************

So this is the story of a guy named Dustin. Dustin worked hard for his advanced degree, forgoing partying and traveling and the like while he was young. Like most kids of his time, he was told he could do anything with a college degree, strong ambitions, and a good work ethic. Dustin had big dreams for himself.

Seemed all his hard work paid off as he managed to score a dream job with the up and coming Utaugen company right out of college! So you’d think this would be his happily ever after, rich and wildly successful, right?

Yeah…

Fast-forward about 15 years.

Dustin sat at his desk, head buried in his hands. The little Papy Bitty that stayed on his desk, “Spot” he called it, was quietly making him a cup of tea.

Yeah, Dustin still worked for Utaugen. And it wasn’t like he was doing bad for himself. Really, he considered himself lucky, considering he graduated during one of the worst recessions in recent history and still managed to get and hold a decent job. A lot of his classmates weren’t as lucky. Sure, maybe he wasn’t doing exactly as well as he’d dreamed he’d be doing, but middle management wasn’t so bad.

He had a nice house in a nice neighborhood. A decent car that got him from point A to point B. He was making enough to pay off his mortgage and school loans, as well as having a little extra each month to do “fun things” (even if he didn’t have much free-time to do said “fun things”). No girlfriend as of yet, but he was working up the nerve to ask out that cute barista at his favorite coffee shop.

He really did like his job… even if his boss was a complete narcissistic dick.

He let out a groan as Spot slid his tea closer to him. Dustin really did like his job… he didn’t want to lose it.

But thanks to what happened a few months ago, he might now lose his job.

One of the products his company had been working on had had a massive recall. The Edgy Bitty line. He and another team were responsible for receiving the recalled products, ensuring they were destroyed, and cataloging and collecting the microchips. Tedious work. Dusty work. That dust was a bear to get out of his clothes! But at least the project would only take a week since his team was only responsible for the Edgy Bitties still in stores. The other team was responsible for the Edgy Bitties already owned, thankfully. Dealing with the public was always a nightmare.

Anyway, one night as a truck was being offloaded, it started raining and somehow two of the Edgy Bitties got loose. Usually when this happened, his team was able to catch them pretty easily. Ownerless Bitties were usually pretty slow. This time though, they lost sight of one of them in the onslaught of rain, lightning, and wind.

Per protocol, Dustin filled out an incident report and got all parties involved to give their accounts and sign it. He turned it over to his boss and he was absolutely sure he was told to “just mark the microchip number as accounted for, the Bitty won’t last long on its own anyway.” Exact words, from his asshole boss.

At the time, Dustin knew it wasn’t exactly the proper protocol to forge documents, but who was he to argue with his boss? Truthfully, he didn’t want to deal with his boss’s anger if he defied him. Besides, Bitties weren’t supposed to be able to last long on their own without an owner. Something about the way their soul energy bond is strengthened by their link to their person… blah blah, not important.

What was important was that somehow, much later, this Bitty’s microchip number showed up at a collection center. Of course the system flagged it since that Bitty was supposed to have already been destroyed. And upper management was notified who in turn, contacted Dustin’s boss.

Well, Dustin’s boss conveniently forgot he told him to mark the Bitty as destroyed. Go figure. So now it was up to Dustin to track that microchip down. That way, Dustin and his team could prove that the Bitty really was destroyed and the collection center’s scanner had glitched.

If Dustin couldn’t find that Bitty, he’d be out of a job.

It really wasn’t fair. Dustin had given Utaugen 15 years of his life! He’d worked hard for them, often putting in over 40 hours a week despite being on salary. Hell, he’d never even missed a day of work. Yeah, maybe he should have known better than to falsify the microchip list without getting his boss’s order in writing. But he’d be damned if he let one little mistake make him lose everything he had worked for!

It took him several weeks to track down the man who had tried to return the Bitty to the collection center.

That had been a total dead-end.

It took several more weeks to track down the actual new “owner” of the Bitty.

And for the last few days, he’d been trying to get ahold of that person to no avail.

He’d tried leaving a note on their door.

They didn’t call him back.

So he’d left some civil messages on their phone.

Still no answer.

Next he tried legal threats.

He’d finally gotten ahold of them once the other day. He let them know that they were in possession of stolen property and that the company needed the Bitty returned. Of course the owner had become attached to the thing. Their customers often became attached to their products, which was why they were selling so well. Some people even thought the things were alive! Ridiculous.

The person had offered to buy the Bitty…paying for it in installments. Dustin told the owner that purchase wasn’t an option, he had to have the Bitty returned. He again reiterated that the Bitty was stolen property and the company was within their rights to get the law involved. The owner had abruptly ended the call.

So now here Dustin sat, head in his hands, his tea growing cold, as Spot tapped its foot seemingly nervously (Bitties really were good at emulating emotion).

Getting the law involved had been a bluff. He couldn’t actually get the police involved for several reasons. One, the USDA was already on Utaugen due to the nature of their products and the fact that one of them had injured a customer. If they found out that a Bitty had actually survived on its own for who knows how long, there would be massive recalls of all lines. And Dustin was sure the whole thing would get pinned on him.

He didn’t know what to else to do. He really hated dealing with the public… they were always so unreasonable! The person with the stolen Bitty wasn’t answering any more of his calls and his supervisor was breathing down his neck every day for that damned microchip.

He had to get them to cooperate and return the Bitty. But how?


	42. Chapter 34: I don't want to go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get in this writing groove again. The rain helps, I think. Good thing it's been raining for WEEKS straight then, huh? Ha, ha, ha... 
> 
> Anyway, have a new chapter.
> 
> ***********************************

“Are you listening? Bring me the suture scissors! Now! ” Dr. Rivera hissed from the doorway of room one, then took a breath and added, “please.”

You jumped, interrupted from your blank staring at the sink, rushing to get the aforementioned instrument. Geez, you couldn’t keep spacing out like this! Not while at work.

Especially since today would be your last day.

You hadn’t told them yet… Dr. Rivera and Gary.

You didn’t know how you were going to tell them. Calling them over the weekend and telling them over the phone seemed too impersonal.

This hospital… Gary and Dr. Rivera… they deserved better, didn’t they? They deserved to be told in person.

Even if you were giving them no notice.

You really didn’t want to leave.

More than anything, you had wanted to go to school and become a Vet Tech. Work with them forever.

They felt like family to you, and the hospital felt like home.

You really didn’t have a choice though.

That same person from Utaugen had left another message, threatening to get the law involved if you didn’t return Bob within the next 48 hours! Two days! Just two days.

Could you even fight them in court? You didn’t have the money for a lawyer. Plus, you didn’t have any paperwork to show proof of ownership of Bob or anything like that. Did it even matter you’d found him months ago? How could you even prove it if it did matter?

Either way, you’d already made up your mind that you were taking Bob and leaving. Especially now that you only had 48 hours. That just wasn’t enough time to figure anything out!

You handed off the scissors and went to help hold the squirmy puppy for her suture removal. The owner of the puppy were regulars and were very sweet. Their puppy… she’d done so well after her spay surgery! You were proud of her, and her owners. You’d miss them too.

You didn’t want to go.

***

“Can I talk to you for a minute, hun?” Gary asked as you were cleaning up the rooms before lunch. He motioned you toward his office.

Great. He looked concerned.

“So, I noticed you’re not your usual chipper self… And thought you may want to talk about it? Hmm?”

Good ol’ Gary. Ever the empathetic one.

But you didn’t want to have this conversation… not yet. You were waiting until the end of the day.

You swallowed. “I guess… I guess I’m just not getting enough sleep?”

His expression said he wasn’t buying it.

“Gary… I… I don’t want to talk about this right now. I promise I’ll be better today! I won’t let this interfere with work…”

The front door jingled.

“Alright,” Gary sighed, “but if something’s troubling you, please speak up. Let me help! You don’t always have to be so stubborn and do everything alone…” Gary was interrupted by Mary knocking on the door frame and leaning in.

“Someone’s here for you,” she said to you, motioning toward the front desk.

Of course your first thought was Utaugen and for a split second you thought about hiding or making a run for it.

But Mary continued, “Said his name was Ace?”

Oh.

Oh, ok… But what was he doing here?

Sure enough, Ace was waiting at the front desk with a goofy grin and a flat cardboard box. “Hey, I thought you’d be working today!” Ace said cheerfully as he caught sight of you. Indy and Canary sat on his shoulder, the latter of which nodded at you. “So I brought you some cereal bars since you were’t able to go to the farmers market yesterday. Enough to share! Seriously, this batch is probably one of my best yet!” With a goofy flourish, he sat the box down on the counter and opened it. “Ta-da! Gaze at the majesty that is my creation! Then, uh… eat some?”

They seriously looked like bird seed bars, with like little cereal puffs.

“That was really nice of you,” you said, tentatively picking one up. “You didn’t have to come all the way out here…”

The cereal bar was actually pretty good.

Gary seemed to be enjoying one too.

“Hah, no biggie,” Ace said, clearly proud everyone seemed to be enjoying his creation. “It was pretty much the guys’ idea we come see you and try cheering you up…” You must have winced because he said quickly, “I mean, if you needed cheering up! The guys seemed to think something was wrong… I may have noticed too… I mean… Um, either way, free food?”

And now Gary was looking even more worried in your direction and Ace was laughing nervously.

“Is Bob here?” Canary asked, cutting the tension.

“He’s at home today… I’ll be sure to save him one of these. They’re really good… I’ll let him know you stopped by.”

Right. When you all ran away, you wouldn’t get to see Ace, Indy, or Canary again either. This was probably the last time you’d see them.

“You ok?” Ace asked, a little more quietly as Gary went to answer a phone call since Mary was busy on the other line.

You really wished people would stop asking you that.

***

*****Canary’s POV*****

“Where we going, bro?” Canary asked as both Bitties leapt from the backpack, as an oblivious Ace hopped on his bike and pedaled away.

Indy barely glanced over his shoulder as he headed back toward the hospital door that they had just left.

Guess that’s all he was getting as an answer.

“Cool. Mind if I tag along?” Canary took one last glance at Ace as he disappeared down the road. Heh, he was gonna be pissed they ditched him. Again.

Indy didn’t answer, intent on dodging feet as they barely made it through the hospital door as it closed.

Things had gotten even more interesting lately. Starting the other day when Bob pulled that “accidental” stunt, with saving his brother’s life from a dog. And now said-brother was actually putting effort into something.

Not that he was surprised his brother decided to ditch Ace in the hopes of getting a chance to see Bob. Especially after the whole life-saving act from earlier. Probably figured he owed the guy to find out what was eating him.

Canary had to admit, despite Bob being a grumpy asshole who was overly enamored with his human, he kind of liked the guy. Bob was funny in his own sort of way. Plus, he seemed to be giving Indy some sort of renewed purpose.

Indy could be kind of… lazy. Apathetic. The type to just give up on life too easily. Not that he wasn’t more than willing to go along with whatever shenanigans Canary came up with. It’s just that Canary came up with most of them. Though lately, thanks to Bob, Indy had been coming up with more of his own schemes.

This seemed to be his latest, the whole “stalk Bob’s human” thing. Rare were the times that Canary seriously had no idea what his brother had planned, and he was curious to see what would happen. Hell, he was looking forward to it.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice your reaction when Ace came in earlier and you clearly thought it was someone else. Is someone after you? Sweetie, are you in trouble? Is that what this is all about?”

Seemed the taller manager guy was following you as you locked the door and turned the sign to “Closed.”

“Gary, please don’t worry about it.”

Indy and Canary ducked behind the legs of a bench in the waiting room, out of sight.

“Don’t worry about it? You tell me today’s your last day and then say don’t worry about it? I’m worried about it!”

The manager turned as another guy in a white coat (probably the doctor) peeked in the lobby. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“Miguel! Our future tech just up and quit and won’t tell me why!” The guy said, almost in tears.

“What?! What the hell…? You’re joking, right?” The doctor stood there looking shocked and unsure of what to say next as you started silently and hastily wiping away tears while concentrating on sweeping the floor.

The manager also started crying, running to his office.

The doctor just stood there opening and closing his mouth, fiddling with his glasses.

It was super awkward.

***

After that whole display, it wasn’t long before you finished up, hugged the manager and nodded at the angry looking doctor. No one was talking. Well, the sniffling manager promised to mail your last paycheck.

Both brothers dashed after you as you made your way to your car, luckily too distracted to notice them.

Welp, end of the line seeing as you closed your door before they could get in…

…or not?

Canary watched, amused, as Indy darted to the back of the car, climbing up into the rear bumper of your old beat-up VW Bug.

Hm. That was probably a dangerous idea, huh?

Yup.

Should he stop his brother?

Probably.

Would he?

Nah.

Would he join him then?

Of course.

As the old car sputtered to life, Canary dashed over to Indy’s side, grinning at him as he found his own grip on the rear bumper. Something odd was going on with you and Bob. And it was probably worth the danger to figure out what was up, right?

He wondered how long it would take his own human to notice they were missing. Nyeh heh heh, he’d probably be all frantic if he knew what they were doing. He almost wished he could see the look on Ace’s face when he figured it all out. Hilarious.

***

So apparently hanging from the rear-bumper of a small, old car wasn’t the best way to travel. Who knew? Wind, exhaust, near-misses with projectile road debris… maybe not exactly Bitty-friendly. Guess that one should get added to the list of things to avoid in the future. Maybe try the front bumper next time?

Things to ponder for later. For now, smokes.

He dug around in his pocket again as his brother, upon hearing the front door close, hopped down from the bumper and darted out of sight.

Rats. Seemed he was destined not to have a smoke any time soon.

Deciding not to waste energy darting, Canary meandered over to where his brother stood in front of the door, frowning at what looked like a bitty-sized doggy door in the bottom. He pushed on it and it didn’t budge.

“What exactly is the plan?”

‘ **Working on it** ,’ Indy signed back, searching around for another way in.

“We could just, I dunno, knock?” Canary said as he leaned his shoulder against the door, hands in his pockets.

‘ **Boring**.’

“Yeah, well, not much excitement out here. I bet Ace will be looking for us soon if he isn’t already. Probably won’t take him long to figure we may have hitched a ride here.” Canary again fished around in his pockets, pulling out his box of smokes.

Not like this was the first time they had hitched a ride somewhere. Though traveling in the beds of pickup trucks or the backs of eighteen-wheelers was a bit easier.

A car pulled up startling both brothers as they made a quick dash over behind a nearby pine tree. Dammit, he just wanted a smoke. Annoyed, he again shoved his smokes back in his pocket and glanced at his brother who was giving an empty eyesocket stare at the person getting out of the car… the hell? Canary looked over…

Utaugen. The logo was clearly displayed on the side of the car.

Shit.

Had he seen them? No… he was frowning at his cellphone as he approached the door.

Shit. The hell was an Utaugen employee doing here?

The employee knocked.

No answer.

He gritted his teeth, mumbled something under his breath, took some folded paper out of his pocket and stuck it to the door. Giving the door one last glare, he got in his car and drove off.

“Well, guess you’re not bored anymore, eh?” Canary said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Neither brother moved from their hiding spot for a bit, wanting to make sure the Utaugen guy didn’t return.

Indy moved first, darting over to leap up and grab the note off the door.

“I wouldn’t,” Canary warned.

Indy ignored him, darting back over to his side.

‘ **Wanna see what it says** ,’ he signed, opening the letter.

Resigned, Canary looked over his brother’s shoulder to read the note too.


End file.
